15 killed and 21 injured in latest Ecuador prison riot 

At least 15 prisoners were killed and 21 others were injured in a prison in the Ecuadorean city of Latacunga on Monday, according to SNAI, the South American country’s prison agency. 

Violence at the Cotopaxi No. 1 jail erupted at the prison after a census of prisoners, reported BBC. SNAI reported that prisoners fought with guns and knives before the guards managed to gain control of the prison. 

Security at the prison has been restored, said Governor of the Cotopaxi Province Oswaldo Coronel. Authorities are working on identifying the bodies of those deceased, he added. 

"At the moment, according to the forensic information from the national police, 15 people have died (and) 21 people have been injured, of which 14 have already been evacuated to hospitals in the city of Latacunga," the governor said.

Among those killed at the Latacunga prison riot is drug gang boss Leando Norero, who was arrested in May on money-laundering charges. 

According to the government of President Guillermo Lasso, prison violence is due to fights between gangs over territory and drug trafficking routes. 

Last year, at least 400 prisoners died during prison riots across several cities in the Andean country since 2020. In April of this year, at least 43 were killed after violence broke out at a prison in Santa Domingo. An additional 13 died in the same prison in June. 

The worst prison clash took place in September last year in the city of Guayaquil when more than 120 prisoners died.

According to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Ecuador’s prison system has been abandoned by the state and lacks any comprehensive policy. 

Around 33,500 individuals are in prisons in Ecuador, 11.3% of which are overcapacity.