Two clashes between rival gangs in a southern Ecuadorian prison left at least 31 inmates useless on Sunday, together with 27 who had been killed by “asphyxiation,” officers stated.
In the primary assault, the felony group Los Lobos was focused by a breakaway gang often called Sao-Box in the early morning, Interior Minister John Reimberg stated Monday in an interview with Radio Centro Ecuador. At least 4 inmates in the Machala Detention Center had been reported killed and roughly 36 had been wounded. Two officers suffered nonserious accidents as authorities stepped in to regain management of the scenario.
Later in the day, Los Lobos carried out a “reprisal” assault towards Sao-Box, killing 27 of its members by asphyxiating them inside a number of cells that each teams shared, in line with Reimberg.
“In retaliation, Lobos asphyxiated members of the other organization to avoid leaving signs of violence on their bodies,” the minister stated.
Prison guards found the our bodies round 6 p.m. whereas finishing up routine inspections.
Ecuador’s penitentiary system SNAI stated in a earlier assertion Sunday that the inmates had “committed asphyxiation among themselves, which resulted in immediate death by suspension.” Authorities didn’t instantly make clear what they meant by “asphyxiation” or say whether or not the inmates had been hanged.
In response to inquiries from the press, together with NCS, SNAI stated Sunday that “authorities, operational teams and forensic medical personnel continue working at the scene, verifying information and attending to reported emergencies.”
Asked why rival gang members shared cells, Reimberg famous that they had been initially half of the identical group, earlier than Sao-Box broke off from Los Lobos over administration disputes. He didn’t specify why they had been nonetheless saved in the identical place after the break up.
The first assault on Sunday was prompted by the switch of inmates to a brand new maximum-security facility, SNAI stated with out offering particulars.
Reimberg instructed that inmates throughout the nation have been inflicting chaos to stop authorities from transferring them to the brand new prison.
The assaults in Machala are the newest in a collection of lethal prison clashes all through Ecuador.
In September, a confrontation between rival gangs at a prison in the coastal metropolis of Esmeraldas left at least 17 dead, in line with the National Police. Three days earlier, a further 14 inmates had been killed in Machala.
Since 2021, greater than 500 inmates have died in Ecuador’s prisons, in line with official figures.
The wave of prison violence is going on regardless of the deployment of navy and police forces in a number of penitentiaries. It’s half of an ongoing state of inner armed battle that the federal government declared in January 2024 to attempt to quell felony violence nationwide.
Los Lobos is one of two Ecuadorian felony teams that the United States stated it might designate as overseas terrorist organizations in September. The designation permits the US to impose sanctions and share intelligence with Ecuador “that can be actioned for potentially lethal operations,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on the time.