- Swedish battery maker Northvolt to slash 1,600 jobs, quarter of staff
- Joshua says boxing career 'far from over' after Dubois defeat
- Stock markets inch higher on rate hopes
- 182 dead in Israeli strikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon
- Friedkin Group reach deal to buy Everton
- UniCredit ups stake in Commerzbank to 21 percent
- Big rate cut was 'appropriate' first step: Fed official
- Stock markets diverge as eurozone economy struggles
- Lebanon says 100 dead in Israeli strikes on Hezbollah strongholds
- Man City's Akanji sends defiant title message after Arsenal battle
- Madrid's 'many styles' key to unbeaten streak: Ancelotti
- UK's Labour pledges economic rebuild amid free gifts row
- Barca goalkeeper Ter Stegen to undergo knee operation
- French mass rape trial moves on to new defendants
- Israel warns Lebanese as intense strikes target Hezbollah
- UK's Labour looks to be more cheerful despite gifts and welfare row
- Eurozone business activity slumps after Olympics boost
- Russia, Ukraine cross swords in sea dispute court battle
- Albania plans Sufi Muslim microstate within its borders
- EU launches WTO challenge against China dairy probe
- Murdoch's REA ups offer for property website Rightmove
- India's one-horned rhino numbers charging ahead, govt says
- Rescuers comb muddy riverbanks after Japan floods kill seven
- Asian stocks boosted by US rate cut, China stimulus hope
- Sri Lanka's new leader says no magic solution to crisis
- Israel warns Lebanese as wave of strikes hits Hezbollah
- New Socceroos coach Popovic confident he can rescue World Cup campaign
- 'Put Austrians first': On a pub crawl with far-right voters
- Trial begins in Italy student murder case that opened eyes to femicide
- Family of murdered Sri Lanka editor seek justice from new president
- Austria's far right woos anti-vaxxers with fund for vaccine 'victims'
- Long wait for justice in India's backlogged courts
- Rohingya refugees detail worsening violence in Myanmar
- Rescuers comb muddy riverbanks after Japan floods kill six
- Sri Lankan leftist leader sworn in after landslide election win
- Indonesia, NZ deny Papua rebel claim 'bribe' paid for pilot release
- Swearing, shoeys and swift legs: Singapore GP talking points
- South Korea warns of 'decisive' action against trash balloons
- Football Australia names Tony Popovic as Socceroos coach
- Japan quake, flood victim attempts fresh start with wife's memory
- Japan quake, flood victim attemps fresh start with wife's memory
- Asian markets extend gains as focus turns to US inflation
- Six dead after floods in central Japan: media
- Australian golf prodigy suffers career-threatening eye injury
- Gaza hospital a symbol of the ruin of war
- October 7: how Israel's deadliest day unfolded
- Bibles, sneakers, silver coins: Trump's merch for sale
- Met Opera opens season with tech-heavy 'Grounded'
- Colombia's Inirida flower: from 'weed' to emblem for UN meeting
- Colombia rebel group imposes control in restive coca zone
At least 20 dead in Ecuador prison riot
At least 20 people died in a prison riot early Sunday in southern Ecuador, the president's office said, the latest outburst of deadly violence in the South American country's detention facilities.
"There are 20 reported dead who have been transferred to the Forensic Center of Cuenca," said President Guillermo Lasso's press office.
Five of the inmates were "mutilated" in the clash in the El Turi prison in Cuenca, Interior Minister Patricio Carrillo said.
Ecuador has struggled in recent years to contain prison violence -- usually gang-related -- with 320 inmates killed in riots in 2021.
Carrillo told reporters the riot had been brought "under control" following the deployment of 800 police and 200 members of the armed forces.
"The clashes have ceased but inside there are armed inmates," added Carrillo.
He said each bloc was being evacuated one by one so that weapons could be confiscated.
Trouble broke out at 1:30 am (0630 GMT) in the prison's maximum security section.
At midday, it was visibly still not under control, with inmates and police officers seen on rooftops.
Carrillo said the violence was gang-related.
"There is an organization that wants to take absolute control inside the center (but) some cells rebelled," he said.
Earlier in the day, Carrillo wrote on Twitter that Ecuador needs legal reforms to punish prison rioters.
"We need strong provisions for those that carry out this violence. They are identified and must lose all kinds of prison benefits," he said.
Family members congregated outside the prison waiting for news.
"They didn't know how to control the situation inside," a man who requested anonymity told AFP.
"I think they should have acted in a way to ensure there were fewer deaths," added the man, who was hoping for news about his brothers and a nephew.
- Violence in prisons -
Ecuador has 65 prisons with a capacity of 30,000 but they are overpopulated by 30 percent.
The El Turi prison is not overcrowded, though it is holding 1,600 prisoners in a facility with a 2,500 capacity.
Last year, there were several bloody prison uprisings.
In February 2021, simultaneous riots in four prisons left 79 inmates dead.
In September, in a prison in Guayas, Ecuador's most populous province, 119 inmates were killed in one of the worst prison massacres in Latin American history.
And in November, firearms, explosives and machetes were used in a gang battle that left 62 inmates dead in the same Guayas prison.
"Latin American prisons have for a long time become a constant threat, but the desire is there and we will take the necessary actions," said Carrillo.
The country has been rocked by an intensifying drug war which has led to a surge in the number of gangs battling over the illegal but lucrative drug trade.
E.Schubert--BTB