Dozens of prison guards and administrative employees of Ecuador’s prison security and surveillance agency were released after being held by inmates in prisons across the country, according to a statement from the national penitentiary institution SNAI this Saturday night.
The institution did not specify how many people had been released but said they were undergoing medical evaluations and that it would investigate those responsible for the capture of the prison workers.
There was also an armed confrontation in a prison in the southern region of El Oro between inmates and members of the Armed Forces and the National Police. One prison guard was killed and another injured at the facility, SNAI said.
Ecuadorian president, Daniel Noboa, celebrated the news and congratulated the SNAI, the armed forces and the national police for achieving the release of the prison security and surveillance body and the staff.
The global number of prison servants held was 178 throughout the week, as reported by the National Service for Persons Deprived of Liberty. On Sunday, January 7, the institution reported the first detentions within the centers.
A wave of violence broke out this week in Ecuadorian prisons and other parts of the country after a high-profile gang leader, Adolfo “Fito” Macías, escaped from a prison in Guayaquil.