Ecuador jail: Over 100 prisoners brutally killed in country's bloodiest gang fight

A severe fight between the gangs in a jail of the coastal city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, has killed nearly 116 people and injured 80, making it the bloodiest prison tragedy in Ecuador's record. As per BBC, officials stated that at least five detainees had been decapitated in Tuesday's riots while others prisoners were shot dead.  The police commander Fausto Buenano has informed that the inmates also hurled grenades. The Guayas prison, which holds convicts tied to international drug groups, required nearly 400 police personnel to control the situation.  

The Litoral Penitentiary, where the latest tragic brawl occurred on Tuesday night, is rated as one of the nation's most violent prisons. According to local media, the revolt was orchestrated by strong Mexican drug trafficking groups which are now operating in Ecuador. Ecuador's jails director, Bolivar Garzon, described the incident as "terrible" on local radio. Garzon added that there were also additional gunshots, other things, explosions on Tuesday night and on Wednesday morning the police seized absolute control. When they entered pavilions where the fighting took place, they had uncovered the corpses.  

A state of emergency in the Ecuador jail facility

The President of Ecuador Guillermo Lasso declared a state of emergency in the Ecuador jail facility, enabling the administration to send police and military into prisons. The police officials blamed the Guayas jail's violence on the gangs those who are tied to international drug traffickers trying to take control over the lockup.   

Pictures shared on social media revealed scores of dead and the scenarios seemed to be like battlefields in the jail's Pavilions 9 and 10. Officials stated the conflict was fought with weapons, knives, and explosives. Bodies were also discovered in the prison's pipes, according to regional police head Fausto Buenano, AP reported.  As per BBC, inmates from one side of the institution squeezed through a hole to obtain entry to a separate wing, wherein they targeted rival gang members, Buenano informed. 

Relatives of detainees sobbed outside the jail mortuary, with some telling the media of the brutality in which their family members were slain, beheaded, and dismembered. Ecuador's president stated that care facilities with food and psychological assistance had been set up for convicts' families. Inmates from Los Choneros, an Ecuadorean group with ties to Mexico's strong Sinaloa drug cartel, are held at the Litoral Penitentiary. 

The former president of Ecuador's National Rehabilitation Council, Ledy Zúñiga informed that there has never been an occurrence like this in the history of the nation. She further expressed sorrow that no actions had been initiated to stop the tragedy after a fatal jail riot occurred last February, in which almost 79 prisoners were murdered.  

President Guillermo Lasso stated in the month of July, Ecuador's jail system was 30 per cent overburdened. To relieve overcrowding, the president announced intentions to speed up the procedure of releasing convicts who had completed the majority of their sentences or had done minor offences.  

(Image: AP)