QUITO (ECUADOR) – As many as 62 people died in violent riots that took place in three prisons in Ecuador on Tuesday. The government described the incidents as a concerted action by criminal organisations.
In a bid to control prison violence, President Lenin Moreno declared the prison system in a temporary state of emergency. There are frequent confrontations between criminal gangs in jails in the Andean nation.
“These were two groups vying for criminal leadership within the detention centers,” said Edmundo Moncayo, director of Ecuador’s prison agency.
Moncayo said authorities have been able to “control and restore order within the detention centers” with the help of an additional 800 police officers.
According to official data, the incidents occurred in prisons in Guayas, Azuay and Cotopaxi provinces, which hold about 70% of Ecuador’s total prison population.
The government said police officers suffered injuries.
On Twitter, Moreno said that he had ordered the armed forces to “strictly control” arms, ammunition and explosives in the outer perimeters of prisons across the country.
There are about 53 detention centers, including those for juvenile offenders, with 37,500 inmates.
