Overview

• Gunfire and two large explosions erupted inside the Machala facility around 2 a.m. local time, with the confrontation lasting roughly 40 minutes.
• Authorities report 14 people killed, including a prison guard, and 14 others injured, with officers who were taken hostage later released.
• Police say control of the prison has been reestablished, searches continue in the area, and about thirteen escapees have been recaptured, though the total number of fugitives remains unclear.
• Commanders identified the dead as members of rival groups linked to Los Choneros and Los Lobos, reflecting ongoing gang power struggles inside Ecuador’s prisons.
• The Machala prison holds roughly 1,400 inmates in a facility built for about 600, underscoring a chronic overcrowding crisis tied to repeated mass killings since 2021.