PRISON RIOT BRINGS CARNAGE

GUAYAQUIL: Nearly 1000 police have battled for control of an Ecuador prison where rioting left at least 116 inmates dead, some on them decapitated, as rival drug gangs went to war armed with guns and grenades.

Another 80 prisoners were wounded, according to Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso, in one of the deadliest prison battles in South American history.

The riot broke out Tuesday at a prison complex in the port city of Guayaquil between prisoners believed to have links to Mexican drug gangs – mainly the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels.

The police service tweeted on Thursday that 900 officers and members of tactical units were engaged in a “mega-operation” to restore order.

Soldiers and tanks were also stationed outside the prison.