Seven inmates found dead in Ecuador jail where massacre occurred

Seven inmates were found dead in a port penitentiary Ecuadorian from Guayaquil (southwest), the same one in which a riot in September left 119 dead inmates, the agency in charge of prisons (SNAI) said on Saturday.

“The lifeless bodies of 7 #PPL (persons deprived of liberty) were found suspended,” the SNAI said on Twitter.

He added that the discovery took place “in the intimate visits area of ​​pavilion 10 of #CPLGuayas No. 1”, where the bloody revolt was registered a month ago.

The prison agency pointed out that it provides facilities to the Police and Prosecutor’s Office to investigate the fact.

Last week he also reported that four inmates were found dead in the same jail, in the case of an alleged suicide.

In September, the penitentiary was the scene of one of the worst prison massacres in Latin American history when rival gangs linked to drug cartels fought a bullet, leaving 119 dead inmates, including dismembered and burned.

So far in 2021, prison riots in Ecuador have left about 240 dead, according to official figures. Last February, in simultaneous riots in four prisons, 79 inmates died.

Ecuadorian prisons have a capacity for 30,000 people but are occupied by 39,000, with an overcrowding of 30%.

The day after the recent massacre, the government of President Guillermo Lasso decreed a state of exception only for the prison system, which allowed it to mobilize 3,600 soldiers and police officers to the 65 prisons in the country.

Ecuador faces an escalation in crime due to drug trafficking, with nearly 1,900 violent deaths so far this year, with Guayaquil being the city most affected by the violence.

That situation also led Lasso to declare a state of emergency throughout the country for 60 days on Monday, ordering the military to take to the streets to patrol and search.

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