At least 67 dead in blood-soaked prison riots after power dispute between gangs

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At least 67 inmates have been killed in prison riots across Ecuador.

In a tweet, Ecuadorian president Lenin Moreno said gangs had carried out “simultaneous acts of violence in several prisons in the country”.

According to authorities, riots erupted in prisons in the cities of Guayaquil, Cuenca and Latacunga.

Local media reports that both guns and knives were used by inmates during the bloody riots.

The violence was said to have broken out over a power dispute between criminal gangs, according to local media.

"Criminal organisations carry out acts of simultaneous violence in several prisons in the country," President Lenín Moreno wrote in a tweet. "The (National Police) in coordination with the Interior Minister (Patricio Pazmiño) are acting to regain control of prisons in Guayaquil, Cuenca and Latacunga."

Police General Commander Patricio Carrillo said on Twitter on Tuesday that additional security forces had been dispatched to the prisons to regain control of them following the riots.

He added that the riots had involved high-security prisoners.

“All the prisons at the moment have restrictions and controls in place,” Carrillo wrote.