QUITO – 62 inmates have died in riots at prisons in three cities in Ecuador as a result of fights between rival gangs and an escape attempt, authorities said Tuesday.
Prisons Director Edmundo Moncayo said hundreds of officers from tactical units had been deployed since the clashes broke out late Monday.
President Lenín Moreno ordered the Ministry of Defense “to exercise strict control of weapons, ammunition, and explosives in the outer perimeters of prisons.”
Moncayo said 33 died at the prison in Cuenca in southern Ecuador, 21 in the Pacific coast city of Guayaquil and eight in the central city of Latacunga.(AP)
