Overview

• Gunfire erupted around 2 a.m. inside Machala prison, where inmates used firearms, bombs, and grenades during roughly 40 minutes of fighting.
• Police reported 14 fatalities, including a prison guard, and 14 injuries, while a separate account cited 15 dead in one pavilion.
• Authorities say they have retaken the facility, though the total number of escapees remains unclear as 13 fugitives have been captured.
• Officials said inmates killed a guard, seized officers’ weapons, and tied them up before security forces reentered the pavilions.
• The prison holds about 1,200 people despite capacity for roughly 600, following a broader shift from military to police oversight in August.