People gather outside the Litoral Penitentiary waiting to receive information about their relatives after a riot in Guayaquil, Ecuador, on Sept. 29, 2021. (Photo by Marcos Pin/Xinhua)
"We regret to inform that as a result of clashes 13 prisoners are recorded dead," the National Service of Integral Attention to Adults Deprived of Liberty and Adolescent Offenders said on its Twitter account.
QUITO, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- The number of prisoners killed during a riot on Wednesday in a prison in Ecuador's southwestern city of Guayaquil rose to 13, authorities reported Thursday.
The riot took place in the Litoral Penitentiary amid clashes between inmates, according to officials.
"We regret to inform that as a result of clashes 13 prisoners are recorded dead," the National Service of Integral Attention to Adults Deprived of Liberty and Adolescent Offenders said on its Twitter account.
The clashes took place between inmates from rival gangs related to drug trafficking, who were fighting for control of the prison, according to prison authorities.
Tactical units of the police and the armed forces reestablished order amid a day of violence, which caused damage to the prison infrastructure.
The disturbances began Wednesday afternoon with the use of firearms, which activated the corresponding protocols and a unified command post.
Since February 2021, when a wave of riots broke out at various prisons in Ecuador, around 400 inmates have been killed in detention, official statistics showed. ■
