More than 60 killed in prison gang riots

More than 60 inmates were killed Tuesday in the worst prison riots in Ecuador’s history, as rival gangs battled for control of the country’s growing drug trade.

The violence broke out in a series of coordinated mutinies on Tuesday morning in three large prisons across the country, according to the police. It was not until the afternoon that the authorities regained control.

Videos recorded by inmates and shared on social media showed beheaded corpses and mutilated arms and legs, shocking a nation unused to massacre.

In December, the leader of a prominent local gang called Los Choneros was assassinated in a shopping mall. On Tuesday, Los Choneros members retaliated for their leader’s death, said Gen. Edmundo Moncayo, the head of Ecuador’s prison system. Many of the victims, he said, were not tied to organized crime but simply caught up in the battle.

“Two armed groups tried to seize the criminal leadership of the detention centers,” Moncayo said.