Riot in Ecuador Prison Leaves 12 Dead, Europa Press Reports

More violence in Ecuador’s biggest and most crowded prison left at least 12 people dead and three injured, the country’s Prosecutor’s Office said Saturday.

(Bloomberg) — More violence in Ecuador’s biggest and most crowded prison left at least 12 people dead and three injured, the country’s Prosecutor’s Office said Saturday.

A riot on Friday at the Litoral jail, located in Guayaquil, is under control, the national prison service said, and security protocols have been reinforced. The Prosecutor’s Office said Saturday it began a preliminary investigation on the incident.  

The violence began earlier this week, when six prisoners were found dead hanging in their cells on Wednesday, the prison authority reported. On Thursday, three guards were killed after being shot on their lunch break in front of the prison, the authorities said. 

Ecuador’s prisons have been roiled by riots in which several hundred people have died over the last year. At least eight prisoners were killed in Quito’s “El Inca” prison in November. Another inmate was killed in a riot at the same prison in January. 

(Updates with details from Prosecutor’s Office.)

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