Death toll in Ecuador prison riots has risen to more than 100. The prison service of the Latin American country announced this after more bodies were found and identified. At least five inmates have been beheaded.
Yesterday the authorities reported 24 more dead by the violence in the prison of Guayaquil, the largest city in the country. The number of injured has also increased slightly: from 48 to 52.
Outside the prison are relatives of inmates who want to know how their loved ones are doing.
Mexican cartels
In the riots, prisoners attacked each other with firearms, knives and explosives. It took the police and army about five hours to restore order to the complex.
Authorities said yesterday that an argument between two local rival gangs sparked the violence. The former chief of the country’s military intelligence now says international criminal organizations are involved. He mentions the Mexican drug cartels Sinaloa and Jalisco. “They want to sow fear,” says the former official.
Smoke had formed in several places on the prison grounds and shots and explosions could be heard:
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