Dozens of inmates dead after violent Ecuador prison riot DW 11/10/2025

"Authorities at a prison in Ecuador's El Oro province said that they found at least 27 individuals on Sunday afternoon who had died from asphyxiation caused by "immediate death by hanging." Asphyxiation occurs when the body is deprived of oxygen. In a statement on X, Ecuador's SNAI prison authority said they were still working to "fully clarify the facts" at the jail, which is located in southwestern Ecuador near the border to Peru."

"In a separate incident on Sunday morning, the prison was the scene of a violent riot. Local residents heard gunfire, explosions and cries for help coming from inside the prison's walls, news agencies report. Four people died in the morning violence, while 33 inmates and one police officer were injured, SNAI said. Elite police teams entered the prison immediately and regained control after the riot broke out, the agency said."

"Ecuardor's prisons epicenter of crime Ecuador's violent jails have become operational centers for rival drug-trafficking gangs and are now the "epicenter" of the country's organized crime, according to a 2024 report by Insight Crime think tank. Nestled between Peru and Colombia, the world's two largest cocaine producers, Ecuador has become a major hub for the global cocaine trade. The tiny country of some 18 million people has become engulfed in violence in the past few years."

At a prison in El Oro province, authorities found at least 27 individuals who died from asphyxiation by immediate hanging. Earlier the same day, a separate morning riot produced gunfire, explosions and cries for help; four people died and 33 inmates plus one police officer were injured. Elite police teams entered and regained control after the riot, which was prompted by a reorganization of prisoners into a new maximum-security facility. At the end of September, an armed confrontation in Machala killed 13 inmates and a prison official. Ecuador's violent jails function as operational centers for rival drug-trafficking gangs and have become an epicenter of organized crime.

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