At least 31 inmates died after riots erupted at a prison in Machala, southwest Ecuador.
SNAI said most victims died from asphyxiation and hanging during the violence.
The unrest follows a series of deadly gang-related prison clashes across Ecuador.
A day of violent rioting at a prison in southwest Ecuador on Sunday, November 9, 2025 caused the deaths of at least 31 inmates, the country’s prisons agency said.
According to Reuters, twenty-seven prisoners in the port town of Machala, south of Guayaquil, died from asphyxiation and “immediate death by hanging,” the SNAI prisons agency said in a statement on X. The statement did not give further details about how the prisoners died.
Earlier on Sunday, SNAI said four prisoners died in a separate outbreak at the same facility, an incident which tactical police later said they had brought under control. SNAI attributed the earlier violence to the reorganisation of prisoners into a new maximum-security area.
The country has endured a wave of deadly prison riots in recent years, leaving hundreds of inmates dead. Mr Noboa’s administration, which has pledged to take a tough stance on crime, blames the violence on rival gangs battling for dominance and territorial control.
In September, a riot caused by gang fighting in the same prison left 14 people dead and another 14 wounded. Days later, 17 prisoners were killed in a riot at a prison in Esmeraldas, near the border with Colombia.
(With inputs from Reuters)
