Ecuadoran police use torches to search for victims in the abandoned compound where inmates were killed during prison riot, in the capital of Quito, Ecuador. (Photo by Edgard Garrido)
Police in Ecuador searched through the night for prisoners after violence at a prison left scores dead. More than 60 prisoners were killed at the maximum security San Isidro prison.
“Yesterday we lost 6 inmates, now 56 have died. I’m sad,” said Joaquin Seider, the head of the Perdomo prison that houses the inmates.
Ecuador’s Interior Minister Jairo Montenegro said there were more than 200 inmates inside the prison when it was set on fire by inmates. He said the inmates are being processed and the remains of those killed will be identified and returned to their families.
“Families, be calm, we have secured the area, we’re treating the wounded, there is no threat,” he said.
About a dozen bodies already were being taken to a funeral home.
Montenegro said the authorities fired tear gas and shotguns to quell the riots at the prison in the capital, Quito. He said there were no deaths outside the prison.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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