Guayaquil, Ecuador, Feb 24 (AFP/APP): At least 79 inmates died in simultaneous riots blamed on gang warfare at four prisons in Ecuador, officials said Wednesday. Updating the toll from Tuesday‘s violent uprising, the SNAI prison authority said it had retaken control of the prisons which jointly hold more than two-thirds of the South American country’s inmate population. The military had been deployed to help quell the uprising. The SNAI said in a statement 37 prisoners had died at two jails in the western port city of Guayaquil, 34 at a prison in Cuenca in the south, and eight in the central Andean town of Latacunga. Several more were injured, as were a number of police officials. The SNAI said no warders or police were killed, adding it was “working on the collection of information on human losses and other aspects related to the clashes” authorities have blamed on rival gangs fighting for control. The office of Ecuador’s public defender — an entity akin to an ombudsman defending human rights — called the violence “an unprecedented massacre” and expressed “concern over the lack of security in the country, which is reflected in the increase in crime and violence inside these prison facilities.” President … Continue reading Equador: 79 inmates died in simultaneous riots