Ecuador prison riots: 116 killed, 5 beheaded, 52 injured as gangs start violence

Officials in Ecuador say more than 100 prisoners were killed and 52 others were injured in a riot between rival gangs inside a prison, the latest in a series of deadly clashes in the overpopulated and understaffed prison system of the country.

Ecuador's prison office said in a tweet on Wednesday evening that "more than 100 dead and 52 injured have been confirmed so far" after Tuesday's riot at the facility in Guayaquil, a coastal town more than 400km (250 miles) southwest of the capital, Quito.

The new toll is a massive jump from an earlier death toll of 30, which was confirmed by Regional Police Commander Fausto Buenano. But Buenano said bodies found in the pipeline of the prison are yet to be identified.

Police and military officials regained control of the jail five hours after the riot broke out, Buenano told reporters, and several weapons were seized.

He added that police responded with "non-fatal weapons" as they were attacked by intruders armed with pistols, revolvers and rifles.

Located between Colombia and Peru, the world's largest cocaine producers, Ecuador is a major transit point for drug shipments to the US and Europe.

Between January and August this year, the Ecuadorian authorities seized approximately 116 tonnes of drugs, mainly cocaine, compared to 128 tonnes in 2020.

Ecuador's prisons has become a battlefields between prisoners associated to Mexican drug gangs - largely the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels.

The latest violence involved guns, explosions, knives and and was caused by a conflict between the "Los Lobos" and "Los Choneros" prison gangs, authorities stated.

Television footage shows prisoners firing from prison windows in the smoke and detonation of firearms and explosives.

The government of the state of Guayas, where Guayaquil is located, posted pictures on its Twitter account where six chefs were evacuated from one of the wings of the prison.

Last week, police confiscated two handguns, a revolver, 500 rounds of ammunition, a hand grenade, several knives, two pieces of dynamite and homemade explosives in one of the city's prisons.