QUITO, Ecuador (AP) – Sixty-two inmates have died in riots in prisons in three cities in Ecuador as a result of fighting between rival gangs and an escape attempt, authorities said Tuesday.
Prison director Edmundo Moncayo said at a news conference that 800 police stations have helped to regain control of the facilities. Hundreds of tactical unit officers had been deployed since fighting broke out late Monday.
Moncayo said two groups were trying to gain “criminal leadership within the detention centers” and the clashes were accelerated by a gun search conducted by police officers on Monday.
Photos and videos on social media show alleged inmates decapitated and dismembered amid pools of blood.
Deadly prison riots have been relatively common in Ecuador in recent years, whose prisons were designed for about 27,000 inmates but were home to about 38,000 people.
President Lenín Moreno tweeted that he has instructed the Ministry of Defense to “exercise strict control over weapons, ammunition and explosives in the outer limits of prisons” as a result of this week’s riots.
According to Moncayo, 33 died in prison in Cuenca in southern Ecuador, 21 in the Pacific coastal city of Guayaquil, and eight in the central city of Latacunga.
Moncayo said nearly 70% of the country’s prison population lives in the centers where the unrest took place.
Government Minister Patricio Pazmiño tweeted blaming “coordinated action by criminal organizations to generate violence in the country’s prisons,” but added, “We are managing actions to regain control.”