More than two dozen inmates were found hanged in a prison in southwestern Ecuador just hours after a deadly riot, according to the prison service.

The death toll late stood at 31 late Sunday, with 27 hanged amid internal violence after four were killed and 34 hurt in incidents related to a planned transfer of prisoners from the jail in Machala, an agro-industrial hub hit hard by a crime wave that President Daniel Noboa’s government has struggled to contain.

Interior Minister John Reimberg, in an interview with Quito’s Radio Centro, said the dead were found in their jail cells around 6 p.m. local time, blaming the hangings on rival gangs. The jail holds about 1,000 prisoners.

Reimberg attributed the violence to an attempt by gangs to stop the transfer of drug kingpins “from all jails of

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