43 prisoners killed, 100 escape during prison riots in Ecuador

At least 43 inmates were killed and about 100 escaped during riots that broke out Monday in an Ecuadorean prison, officials said.

The authorities said that a confrontation erupted between two gangs inside the Bellavista prison in Santo Domingo de los Colorados, located in central Ecuador, about 80 km from the capital Quito.

"The number of dead prisoners is currently 43," the Public Prosecutor's Office said on Twitter, adding that the situation was "evolving."

On the ground, ambulances transported wounded people with facial injuries, while relatives of prisoners gathered around the prison, dropping news of their relatives.

Interior Minister Patricio Carrillo said that clashes between two gangs broke out early Monday morning, prompting the activation of "security protocols" to contain the "unrest" in the prison.

"Thirteen people have been hospitalized, many of them have serious injuries, and the number (of deaths) is likely to rise," Carrillo said.

"The assailants acted very brutally," he added, while the violence followed a mass flight.

Police chief General Fausto Salinas said 120 fugitives had been "re-arrested" but 108 were still "missing" on Monday afternoon.

He explained that "250 policemen, 200 soldiers and additional reinforcements are on the way."

Bellavista prison is capable of accommodating 1,200 prisoners, but 1,700 prisoners are currently housed there.

And often violent clashes take place regularly in Ecuadorean prisons, where nearly 350 prisoners have died since February 2021.

The last rebellion took place in early April in a prison in the south of the country, where 20 prisoners were killed and mutilated bodies.

According to the government, rival gangs of drug smugglers under the control of Mexican cartels are waging a war for control of overcrowded prisons, a war the authorities have so far been unable to stop.

In 2021, Ecuador seized 210 tons of drugs, mostly cocaine.

As for the year 2022, the seizures so far amounted to about 70 tons.

Bordered by Colombia and Peru, the world's two largest cocaine-producing countries, Ecuador is used as a departure point for drug shipments mainly to the United States and Europe.

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