At least 60 people have been killed after a "massacre" at a prison in Ecuador, where 45 prisoners also escaped.
Publication Riobamba tweeted: "Early this Monday, at the Bella Vista prison in Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas #Ecuador, a massacre and prisoner escape occurred.
"Balance: 60 people killed, 80 injured and 45 escaped (40 recaptured)."
The home ministry confirmed in a statement on Twitter, that there was trouble at what they called the Santo Domingo Deprivation of Liberty Center.
Fausto Salinas, commander of the National Police, said in an interview with Telemazonas that the riots were caused by the transfer of a prisoner to the prison.
“This PPL was first transferred from the Turi prison to La Roca and later taken to Santo Domingo. He is a member of the R7 criminal gang that is in conflict with Los Angeles over the territory," he said.
According to media reports, the PPL was transferred due to security measures.
There is still no official statement about possible casualties and injuries inside the prison center.
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Adults deprived of the National Service for Comprehensive Attention are deprived of their liberty, and Ecuador’s juvenile delinquency (SNI) has announced that its chief, Pablo Ramirez, has already moved to the prison to take steps to restore order.
In October last year, fighting at another Ecuadorian prison left at least 118 inmates dead.
Prisoners at Guayas prison complex, also known as the Litoral Penitentiary, used explosives and firearms on each other and some victims were decapitated or dismembered, the BBC reported.
Ecuador is on a cocaine transport route from neighbouring Peru and Colombia, and the dangerous and powerful Mexican drug cartels are said to operate through local gangs.
Inside jails there are problems with overcrowding and a shortage of guards. Police are often met with prisoners who are heavily armed.
