B.dozens of people died in several prisoner mutinies in Ecuador. More than 50 prisoners were killed in violent clashes in several prisons, the police said on Tuesday.
“Criminal organizations are simultaneously carrying out violent acts in a number of prisons,” President Lenín Moreno wrote on Twitter. “The police and the Interior Ministry are working to regain control of the prisons in Guayaquil, Cuenca and Latacunga.”
After the security forces brought the detention centers back under control, investigators ransacked the cells. Firearms, machetes, knives and cell phones were seized in Guayaquil, the prosecutor announced.
“I just got out. They knocked on the doors and screamed, ”a visitor to the Cuenca prison told the newspaper“ El Universo ”. “You killed one – I saw that.”
Initially there was talk of ten dead on Tuesday. Police chief Patricio Carrillo said eight people were killed in a detention center in the port city of Guayaquil. Two people were killed in riots in Cuenca.
Then later the numbers rose rapidly. The background to the prisoner mutinies was initially unclear. Interior Minister Patricio Pazmiño spoke of a concerted action by criminal organizations.
Previously, there had been riots in several prisons in the South American country. Violent clashes were also reported from the Cotopaxi detention center. The police transferred additional units to the prisons to bring the situation under control.
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