Eight inmates killed in riots at two prisons in Ecuador

Eight inmates died on Thursday as a result of two separate prison riots in the Ecuadorian provinces of Cotopaxi and Pichincha — four each in Latacunga and in the El Inca prison in Quito. Another ten people were injured and are receiving medical care. The authorities said they had identified the presumed participants in the unrest and plan to transfer them to the maximum-security El Encuentro prison in Santa Elena province.

Aziz KarimovFirst published on tafs uz 24 October 2026 at 19:542 min read

Eight inmates killed in riots at two prisons in Ecuador

The key facts

Eight inmates died in two riots in the provinces of Cotopaxi and Pichincha, ten were injured
Four deaths each — in the Latacunga prison and in the El Inca prison in Quito
Those suspected of organizing the unrest are to be transferred to the maximum-security El Encuentro prison

Eight dead in two prisons

Two separate prison riots broke out in Ecuador on Thursday, killing eight inmates, the state agency responsible for prisons reported. According to the National Service for Comprehensive Care of Deprived-of-Liberty Adult and Juvenile Offenders (SNAI), in a statement published on the social network X, four inmates died in the prison in Latacunga in Cotopaxi province, and four more in the El Inca prison in Quito, in the capital province of Pichincha. Another ten people were injured and are currently receiving medical care.

The authorities' response

The agency said it had identified persons presumed to be involved in the unrest and plans to transfer them to El Encuentro, a maximum-security prison in the coastal province of Santa Elena. Law enforcement officers are conducting operations in the affected facilities to restore order.

The context of prison violence

Ecuador's prisons have long been hotbeds of violence: since 2021, dozens of people have died in a series of mass killings linked to clashes between rival criminal gangs. The publication does not provide information on the causes of Thursday's riots; it is also unknown whether all the injured are in stable condition and whether the operations to restore order have been completed.