Ecuador prison violence leaves at least 11 dead

QUITO (Reuters) – Ecuador’s police said on Wednesday they had recovered 11 bodies and 29 body parts after retaking control of various cell-blocks at a prison in Guayaquil where members of different criminal groups fought over the weekend.

The forensic effort at the Penitenciaría del Litoral prison is continuing to determine the official death toll, Cesar Zapata, the police director of citizen security and public order told journalists.

The figure seemed to contradict that given on Tuesday by the country’s attorney general’s office, which tallied 31 prisoner deaths.

“We are carrying out a collection and verification of the exterior and interior to be able to determine exactly how many bodies there are,” said Zapata, who added authorities were confirming whether the body parts belonged to already-recovered remains.

This week’s latest surge of prison violence comes during campaigning for Aug. 20 elections, with some presidential candidates pledging prison reforms.

Seventeen prison guards were being held hostage on Wednesday at a jail in the city of Esmeraldas, prisons agency SNAI said.

More than 100 prison officers held in jails around the country were freed on Tuesday, and SNAI said prisoners had lifted hunger strikes held at some facilities.

The 2,700 soldiers and police officers who entered the Penitenciaria del Litoral prison confiscated high-caliber weapons including grenade launchers, drugs, cell phones and bullet-proof vests.

The disturbances led President Guillermo Lasso to declare a 60-day state of emergency for the country’s prisons and allow the military to help retake control.

Lasso has regularly declared states of emergency in the country’s prisons as he tries to tackle violence that has surged since 2021, claiming the lives of at least 400 prisoners.

(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Sandra Maler)