Prison Officials Find 4 Bodies—Then 27 More

At least 31 inmates were found dead Sunday at a prison in southern Ecuador, most of them believed to have been hanged during gang violence, reports the BBC. Officials say a breakaway gang, Sao-Box, initially targeted the powerful Los Lobos group at El Oro prison in Machala, leaving four dead and around 36 injured, per CNN. Two officers also suffered minor injuries. Then later Sunday, officials described a fresh round of bloodshed, with Los Lobos retaliating, asphyxiating 27 Sao-Box members inside several cells on the prison's third floor. The BBC describes the 27 as hanged.

Ecuador's prison system has been plagued by overcrowding and deadly gang violence, with hundreds of inmates killed in recent years. El Oro itself was the scene of similar violence in September, when 13 inmates and a guard lost their lives in gang-related fighting. Officials say the latest bloodshed was triggered by plans to transfer some inmates to a newly built prison. Interior Minister John Reimberg said Monday that rival gang members had shared cells because they were initially part of the same Los Lobos group, per CNN.

President Daniel Noboa's government announced earlier this year that a new maximum security facility, El Encuentro, is scheduled to open in late November in Santa Elena province. Officials say it will feature advanced security systems, like the ones families of prisoners are now demanding. Locals have long pushed for the prison to be moved out of the city center. Gang activity inside Ecuador's prisons remains a major driver of the country's rising violent crime. Los Lobos and another powerful gang, Los Choneros, were recently designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the United States.