At least 15 inmates killed in a fight in Ecuador's largest prison

A fight among inmates has left at least 15 dead and 14 injured at Ecuador’s largest prison

QUITO, Ecuador -- A fight among inmates has left at least 15 dead and 14 injured at Ecuador's largest prison, authorities said Tuesday.

The Litoral Penitentiary in the coastal city of Guayaquil has been the site of frequent riots and mass killings, including one in 2021 that left 119 inmates dead.

Authorities provided few details about what triggered the latest violence. In a statement, prison officials said police and military had been deployed to take control of the facility.

Local media reported helicopters flew over the prison as ambulances and relatives of inmates, some of them shouting in desperation for loved ones, rushed to the gates.

The mass killing is bound to agitate Ecuador's presidential race, where the law-and-order incumbent, Daniel Noboa, has made improving security, including inside detention facilities, a top priority in his bid to seek reelection next year.

Ecuador's prisons have become among the deadliest in Latin America as overcrowding, corruption and weak state control have allowed gangs connected to drug traffickers in Colombia and Mexico to proliferate. Many are heavily armed with weapons smuggled in from the outside and continue to organize criminal activity from behind bars.

The Litoral Penitentiary currently houses about 10,000 inmates — or double its capacity.

Ecuador's Attorney General's office said that it is preparing to charge nine inmates with murder stemming from the violence.

A dozen outbreaks of violence in Ecuadorian prisons have left more than 400 people dead since 2001. The prison violence reflects a deteriorating security situation throughout the Andean nation.

Ecuador registered a record 47 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023, up from a rate of six murders per 100,000 inhabitants in 2018.

Noboa in January declared a state of emergency and ordered the military to take control of the prisons after gunmen stormed and opened fire in a TV studio and bandits threatened random executions of civilians and security forces.