At least 31 inmates found dead in Ecuador prison
By DL News
Published
1 min read
Officials said 27 of the inmates had been hanged, while four others were killed during armed confrontations between rival gangs in the early hours of Sunday.
Authorities in southern Ecuador say at least 31 prisoners have been found dead at the El Oro prison in Machala following a violent outbreak of gang clashes — the latest in a string of deadly incidents plaguing the country’s overcrowded jails.
Officials said 27 of the inmates had been hanged, while four others were killed during armed confrontations between rival gangs in the early hours of Sunday. More than 30 others were injured in the fighting.
Hours after the initial clashes, prison guards discovered the hanged bodies on the third floor of one of the prison blocks, the national prison service (Snai) confirmed.
Authorities believe the unrest was sparked by plans to transfer inmates to a newly constructed facility.
Snai said the internal dispute was part of a broader power struggle among criminal groups operating inside Ecuador’s correctional system.
El Oro prison has been a flashpoint for violence before — in September, 13 inmates and a prison guard were killed in similar clashes between rival gangs.
Ecuador’s prisons have become epicentres of gang warfare, with hundreds killed in riots over recent years. Two of the country’s most powerful criminal groups, Los Lobos and Los Choneros, were designated Foreign Terrorist Organisations by the US State Department in September.
The latest massacre adds to the growing crisis in Ecuador’s prison system — a stark reflection of how entrenched gang rivalries have turned detention centres into battlegrounds for control and retribution.
