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31 Inmates Die in Ecuador Prison Riot

At least 31 inmates died in Machala prison riot linked to gang conflicts and inmate transfers, with 27 deaths by hanging, officials said.

  • A day of violent rioting in Machala killed at least 31 inmates at Machala prison, El Oro province, on November 9, 2025, Ecuador's SNAI prison authority said.
  • Officials trace the unrest to plans to move inmates to El Encuentro, the new maximum-security prison due this month, with gangs opposing transfers as they compete for control.
  • Local residents reported gunfire and explosions around 3:00 am, and elite police teams entered immediately, regaining control after fighting left four prisoners dead and one police officer injured.
  • Interior Minister John Reimberg said bodies were found around 6 p.m., blaming rival gangs, and forensic medical personnel were on site to verify facts.
  • The incident adds to a wave that has killed more than 500 inmates since 2021, reflecting Ecuador's broader prison crisis and gang control issues, authorities said.
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Two massacres in the prison of Machala , capital of the coastal province of El Oro, in the south of the country, left 32 dead and 34 wounded, in a day of horror that has shocked the country, where the violence of organized crime linked to drug trafficking is unstoppable. Most of the prisoners were found dead by asphyxiation, hung in their cells. The first incident was reported during the early morning of Sunday, and it was the neighbors of the s…

·Madrid, Spain
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El DiarioEl Diario
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Quito, Ecuador.- The President of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, presented on Monday to the first 300 prisoners of the country's "most dangerous" who will occupy their new high security megacarcel, after a bloody massacre in a prison. In orange uniform, tied hands and with shaved heads looking at the floor, about twenty detainees appear sitting on the floor and surrounded by soldiers with a covered face, according to images spread by the President in X.…

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Global Voices broke the news on Thursday, May 8, 2025.
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