At least 18 inmates die, many police injured as more riots break out at prisons in Ecuador

Ecuador’s prison authority has said that at least 18 inmates have been killed and several police officers injured after riots broke out at two of the country’s jails, showing a disturbing continuation of prison violence.

In a statement late on Wednesday, the SNAI prison authority announced that two of the country’s largest prisons had experienced more deadly violence, with at least 18 inmates killed in clashes, while several police officers sustained injuries. 

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The two jails, facilities that are no strangers to deadly riots, are situated in southern Guayas province and Cotopaxi province; the former is home to the country’s largest city, Guayaquil.

On Thursday, the country’s police service announced on Twitter that 61 inmates had been recaptured after having escaped from the Cotopaxi prison, and that operations were under way to prevent others from illegally absconding. Just two hours earlier, the police said that 45 fugitives had been recaptured.

OPERACIONES POLICIALES ????@PoliciaEcuador con sus unidades preventivas, investigativas y de inteligencia, ejecuta operativos simultáneos para recapturar a los ppl que se fugaron del #CPLCotopaxi No. 1.

????Hasta el momento son 61 ppl recapturados

Continuaremos informando ???? pic.twitter.com/48Jy7xpoyK

— Policía Ecuador (@PoliciaEcuador) July 22, 2021

The SNAI authority said that 10 inmates had died and 35 were injured at the Cotopaxi facility alone. 

The incidents mark the latest wave of deadly prison violence in Ecuador this year, after at least 79 inmates died at three jails in February, as rival gangs clashed inside. The facilities in Guayas and Cotopaxi were among the prisons affected.

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