Ecuador declares emergency in prisons after 116 inmates killed

Authorities say the deadly riots at the prison in Guayaquil are the worst in the country’s history.

Ecuador’s president has declared a state of emergency in the prison system after deadly clashes among gang members in a coastal prison killed at least 116 people and injured 80.

Officials said at least five of the dead were found to have been beheaded in the violence at Litoral penitentiary in Guayaquil on Tuesday, in what authorities say was the worst prison bloodbath ever in the country.

President Guillermo Lasso decreed the state of emergency late on Wednesday. It gives the government powers that include deploying police and soldiers inside prisons.