Death toll in prison gang clash tops 100

QUITO, ECUADOR » A battle between gangs in a prison in Ecuador’s coastal city of Guayaquil killed at least 100 inmates and injured 52 more in what authorities are calling the worst penitentiary massacre in the country’s history. At least five dead were reported beheaded, officials said.

President Guillermo Lasso decreed a state of emergency in Ecuador’s prison system, and authorities attributed the bloodshed at the Guayas prison to gangs linked to international drug cartels fighting for control of the lockup.

The prisons bureau said in a tweet that “as of the moment more than 100 dead and 52 injured have been confirmed.” Ecuador’s department of communication said the president was going to hold a news conference to announce the details of the emergency.

“In the history of the country, there has not been an incident similar or even close to this one,” said Lady Zúñiga, the former president of Ecuador’s National Rehabilitation Council.