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Guayaquil (dpa) - Dozens of people were killed in several prisoner mutinies in Ecuador.
Over 50 prisoners were killed in violent clashes in several prisons, the police said.
"Criminal organizations are carrying out violent acts simultaneously in a number of prisons," wrote President Lenín Moreno 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 public prosecutor said.
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«I just got out.
They knocked on the doors and shouted ”, a visitor to the prison in Cuenca 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.
In Cuenca, two people were killed in riots.
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.
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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.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210223-99-564544 / 4