Government: 68 dead in new clashes in Ecuador prison

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – (EFE) At least 51 prisoners died in the last hours in new clashes in prison in the coastal city of Guayaquil, in southwestern Ecuador, the newspaper Expreso reported Saturday, based on a preliminary police report.

UPDATE: Later on Saturday, prison authorities announced 58 deaths and another 12 injured. At a subsequent press conference, a federal government representative said 68 deaths had occurred.]

The report, to which Expreso had access, “confirms that up to the morning of this Saturday, November 13, 51 prisoners have been found dead after the clashes that took place, mainly in ward 2 of the former Penitenciaría del Litoral, in Guayaquil”, published the newspaper.

When consulted on the subject, a police source told Efe that “there were confrontations in the Guayaquil Penitentiary. Police tactical units are intervening the penitentiary”.

Sources of the institution in charge of the control of the prisons informed Efe that they would offer a press conference on the subject in the morning.