Ecuador massacre: Prison fight leaves 13 dead, some decapitated

At least 13 people died and two others were injured on Monday in a fight between inmates in the Bellavista prison, located in the Ecuadorian city of Santo Domingo, informed the National Service of Integral Attention (SNAI).

Most of the victims of the massacre, described by authorities as "barbaric," are Venezuelans, Interior Minister Patricio Carrillo told a press conference, reported AFP.

"Unfortunately, personnel of the Center reports at the moment 13 PPL (persons deprived of liberty) dead and 2 wounded," the state agency in charge of prisons reported on Twitter. It also indicated that with the support of police and military "control is retaken" of the Bellavista prison.

The confrontation left bodies decapitated and with dismembered limbs, as has happened in other massacres in Ecuadorian prisons since 2021, according to several media reports.

The penitentiary unit also reported on Twitter that a search operation was carried out in the ward and "firearms, ammunition, bladed weapons, cell phones, among other prohibited objects" were obtained.

In addition, 16 inmates were transferred from the prison to different centers, one of them to a maximum security prison, "to protect their integrity."

🇪🇨 | El sistema penitenciario dijo que al menos 13 reclusos murieron y 2 resultaron heridos. Las imágenes compartidas por los medios locales indicaron que algunos de los reclusos fueron mutilados y decapitados. pic.twitter.com/VIQCkdyQ7F

— Alerta Mundial (@AIertaMundiaI) July 19, 2022

Some family members claim that the brawl began in a "minimum security" cellblock, which was attacked by inmates from another section, and demand that the country's authorities increase prison protection.  The incident occurred in the same prison where 44 inmates were killed in a fight in May.