QUITO, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- At least 15 inmates died and 20 were injured on Monday afternoon in a prison riot that broke out in the central Ecuadorian city of Latacunga, Ecuador's State Attorney General's Office said.
Fifteen bodies were found after the confrontation between groups of prisoners, the official tweeted.
Leandro Norero, regarded by anti-narcotics authorities as one of the main drug traffickers and prosecuted for money laundering, was among the dead.
The riot led the prison authorities to activate all security measures and the armed forces units were called in for help.
The cause for the riot was still under investigation, said the government.
Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso expressed his condolences to the families of the deceased.
Prison violence killed more than 300 inmates in 2021 and the situation continued in 2022.
The government has attributed the repeated prison riots to clashes between drug-related gangs vying for control of the prisons and declared a frontal fight against drug mafias. ■
