Ecuador prison violence leaves at least 68 dead, dozens injured

At least 68 prisoners were killed and more than two dozen injured in overnight violence at Ecuador's Penitenciaria del Litoral prison, the government said on Saturday, in what officials characterise as fights among rival gangs. The penitentiary, located in the southern city of Guayaquil, is the same prison where 119 inmates were killed in late September in the country's worst incident of prison violence in recent history. The government has blamed disputes between drug trafficking gangs for control of prisons for the violence. Dozens were gathered outside the prison on Saturday afternoon waiting for news of loved ones, who many said they had not heard from since Friday afternoon. Cristina Monserrat, 58, still has not heard from her younger brother who has been in prison for a year. "What is happening inside is reprehensible, people killing each other and the saddest thing is they have no conscience," said Monserrat. "My brother is alive, my heart tells me so." President Guillermo Lasso, Monserrat added, must do more to help the poor. Ecuador's prison system has come under harsh spotlight in recent years for overcrowding and poor sanitary and living conditions for inmates.

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