Ecuador’s prisons are among the many deadliest in Latin America as a result of overcrowding, corruption and weak management by the authorities.
Revealed On 10 Nov 2025
A riot in a jail in southern Ecuador has killed at the very least 31 inmates, in line with jail authorities.
In a press release launched on Sunday, Ecuador’s SNAI jail authority mentioned 27 of these discovered useless on the Machala jail in El Oro province had been hanged. An extra 4 died amid an armed riot that additionally left 33 inmates and one police officer injured.
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The violence, throughout which residents reported listening to gunfire, explosions, and cries for assist, got here lower than two months after 14 inmates died on the identical facility in what authorities described as a dispute between gangs.
Authorities mentioned they had been nonetheless working to “absolutely make clear the details”, and forensic medical personnel had been on website to confirm data. The circumstances of the injured weren’t instantly clear.
The lethal day at Machala’s jail, which started at about 3:00am (08:00 GMT), marks the most recent spasm of jail unrest within the South American nation.
Elite police groups entered the jail instantly and regained management after the riot broke out, mentioned the SNAI authority.
It didn’t specify the identities of the deceased or verify whether or not the violence was one other case of inter-gang combating.
The riot is believed to have damaged out amid the beginning of an operation to maneuver some inmates into a brand new maximum-security jail, constructed by President Daniel Noboa’s authorities in one other province, that is because of be inaugurated this month.
Ecuador’s prisons are among the many deadliest in Latin America as overcrowding, corruption and weak management by the authorities have allowed gangs related to drug traffickers in Colombia and Mexico to proliferate.
On the finish of September, an armed confrontation on the jail in Machala left 14 inmates and a jail official useless. Days later, one other 17 folks had been killed in a jail riot within the northern metropolis of Esmeraldas, close to the border with Colombia.
Noboa’s administration, which has pledged to take a tough stance on crime, blames the violence on rival gangs battling for dominance and territorial management.
Greater than 500 folks have died in jail riots since 2021. Final yr, a sequence of coordinated riots throughout a number of prisons led to 150 jail guards being taken hostage.
