Prison violence in Ecuador's Guayaquil kills at least 15

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

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 bout of violence. In a statement, prison officials said that police and military had been deployed to take control of the facility.

Local media reported helicopters could be seen flying 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 & order incumbent, Daniel Noboa, has made improving security, including inside detention facilities, a top priority in his bid to seek re-election 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 organise 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.