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6 prisoners dead in Ecuador prison shootout
QUITO, May 31, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Six inmates were killed after a shootout
inside an Ecuador prison on Thursday, the president’s office said, a month
after the government declared a crisis in the country’s penitentiaries.
The murder of a detainee by another inmate “provoked a brawl” inside the
facility in coastal Guayaquil city, according to prison director Alfredo
Munoz.
Five of the victims have been identified while the sixth remains unknown
because his corpse was “incinerated”, added Munoz, who was stood down by the
government after the incident.
Authorities did not report the number of inmates injured in the violence.
Family members of the prisoners later protested outside the prison to
demand information about their relatives, according to images broadcast by
local media.
The government of Ecuador decreed a state of emergency in the prison system
in response to a wave of fatal violence and severe overcrowding.
BSS/AFP/GMR/1140 hrs