- Title: Another Ecuador prison riot kills at least 30 inmates
- Date: 29th September 2021
- Summary: GUAYAQUIL, QUITO (SEPTEMBER 28, 2021) (REUTERS) POLICE ON STREET OUTSIDE PRISON RELATIVES HITTING AN AMBULANCE LEAVING THE PRISON RELATIVES ARGUING WITH POLICE POLICE MAKING WAY FOR AMBULANCE TO PASS (NIGHT SHOT) VARIOUS OF POLICE OUTSIDE PRISON (NIGHT SHOT)
- Embargoed: 13th October 2021 16:00
- Keywords: Guayas Penitenciaria del Litoral SNAI prison prison riot
- Location: GUAYAQUIL, ECUADOR
- City: GUAYAQUIL, ECUADOR
- Country: Ecuador
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,South America / Central America
- Reuters ID: LVA004EWRTM4N
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: At least 30 prisoners died and another 48 were injured in a riot at an Ecuadorian jail, the government said on Tuesday (September 28), the third deadly uprising this year in the Andean nation's prison system.
The incident took place at the Penitenciaria del Litoral in Guayas province, a facility that has in recent months witnessed bloody fights between gangs for control of the prison.
"An alert was activated in the Centre for the Deprivation of Liberty Guayas N1 due gunshots and explosions in several areas," state prison agency SNAI said in a statement.
Guayas Governor Pablo Arosemena said authorities were able to regain control of the facility in the afternoon, following an earlier evacuation of personnel and the deployment of police officers inside the prison and military officers to guard the exterior.
Outside the jail, prisoners' relatives fought with the police and blocked the way of ambulances and police vehicles demanding safety for their loved ones.
"Because of them (more dangerous inmates) there are deaths," an unidentified relative shouted at an officer. "You need to grab and remove the rotten ones. Those are the ones you need to take out."
Riots broke out in February and July in the country's prison system, which houses some 39,000 inmates. At least 79 people died in the February violence, and in July it was at least 22.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has previously condemned the violence and Human Rights Watch urged Ecuador's government to fully investigate the prison violence and bring those responsible to justice.
President Guillermo Lasso in August said the government would provide more funding for the overcrowded prison system to build new wards and install new equipment to improve security.
(Production: Vicente Gaibor, Tito Correa, Nina Lopez) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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