Ecuador declares prison emergency after 118 killed in riot

By GABRIELA MOLINA
Associated Press

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador’s president has declared a state of emergency in the prison system following a battle among gang members in a coastal lockup that killed at least 118 people and injured 79. Authorities say it’s the worst prison bloodbath ever in the country. Officials say at least five of the dead were found to have been beheaded. The state of emergency declared Wednesday by President Guillermo Lasso gives the government power to deploy police and soldiers inside prisons. Officials blame the carnage at the Litoral penitentiary in Guayaquil on gangs linked to international drug cartels.