Thirteen prisoners were killed at a prison in the Ecuadorean city of Santo Domingo yesterday, Ecuador’s prison agency said, the latest incident of deadly jail violence in the Andean country.
The government of conservative President Guillermo Lasso attributes prison violence to fights between gangs over control of territory and drug trafficking routes.
Last year, 316 prisoners died during riots in various prisons across Ecuador. The police and the armed forces were retaking control of the penitentiary.
The country’s prisons house about 33,900 people and are 12.5% beyond maximum capacity.
