Ecuador prison riot leaves 31 inmates dead

At least 31 inmates are dead after a day of violent rioting at a prison in southwest Ecuador.

Twenty-seven prisoners in port town Machala, south of Guayaquil, died due to asphyxiation and "immediate death by hanging," according to a statement shared on X by the SNAI prisons agency.

There were no other details about how the prisoners died.

Earlier on Sunday, SNAI reported four deaths at the same prison in a separate incident, which was brought under control by tactical police. That riot was prompted by a reorganisation of the prisoners in a new maximum security facility, the statement said.

Ecuador's prisons have become among the deadliest in Latin America as overcrowding, corruption and weak state control have allowed gangs connected to drug traffickers in Colombia and Mexico to prolif