More than 400 officers sent to Ecuador prison where riots killed 116

Ecuador national police say it has sent hundreds of officers to prison, where riots between rival gangs at least 116 prisoners dead and injured dozens more, in the deadliest outbreak of prison violence in the country's history .

National police said on Thursday that they had sent 400 officers to the Penitenciaria del Litoral in Guayas province to regain control after Tuesday's deadly violence.

Officers also seized three explosives found in the detention center.

"We will continue to intervene in the penitentiary in the coming days," police chief Tannya Varela told reporters. "Police will continue to act to restore control."

The riot in the facility on the outskirts of Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city, is believed to be linked to a "war" between Mexican drug gangs. It is the fifth major incident in the port of prison in just over a year.

By 2021, about 200 prisoners had died in violence in Ecuador's prisons, turning into a battlefield for thousands of prisoners with ties to powerful Mexican drug cartels.

More than 100 died alone last year in violence, including many who were beheaded.

Ecuador's prison system has developed 65 facilities for about 30,000 prisoners but a prison population of 39,000. The system is being monitored by 1,500 guards - a shortage of about 2,500, according to experts.

Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso declared a state of emergency late Wednesday, calling this week's blood poisoning "bad and sad."

"It is unfortunate that prisons are being transformed into territories for power struggles by criminal gangs," Lasso said during a news conference.

He promised to act with "absolute firmness" to regain control of the Litoral Prison and release funding to prevent violence from spreading to other penalties.

Asked on Wednesday night whether this week's violence was linked to drug trafficking, Fausto Cobo, director of the Ecuadorian Center for Strategic Intelligence, said it was "linked to other serious problems".

"This is a problem that goes beyond a problem with the penal system," Cobo told reporters. "It is a threat against the Ecuadorian state."

The Ecuadorian prosecutor said late Wednesday that he was still collecting information from the detention center.