Relatives of inmates hug outside the Litoral Penitentiary in the coastal city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, on November 12, where a fight between inmates left at least a dozen dead, authorities said. (AP)

QUITO, Ecuador, Nov. 13 (AP): A fight between inmates at Ecuador’s largest and most dangerous prison left 15 dead and 14 injured, authorities said Tuesday, in the bloodiest prison episode facing the president’s government Daniel Noboa. Authorities attributed the outbreak to internal tensions between inmates, but did not provide other details.

Litoral Penitentiary has a history of violent unrest, most notably the 2021 massacre that claimed 119 lives. The latest violence underscores the ongoing challenges facing the Noboa administration in addressing the country’s severe prison crisis. In January, a series of coordinated riots in several prisons led to the hostage-taking of 150 guards, culminating in the tragic death of one official.

Local media reported that helicopters flew over the prison as ambulances and relatives of inmates, some of them desperately calling for their loved ones, rushed to the gates. The mass killing is bound to shake up Ecuador’s presidential race, where current law-and-order governor Noboa has made improving security, including inside detention facilities, a top priority in his bid for re-election next year.

Ecuador’s prisons have become among the deadliest in Latin America as overcrowding, corruption and lax state control have allowed gangs linked to drug traffickers from Colombia and Mexico to proliferate. Many are heavily armed with weapons smuggled in from abroad and continue to organize criminal activities behind bars.

The Litoral Penitentiary currently houses around 10,000 inmates – or double the capacity. Ecuador’s Attorney General’s Office said it was preparing to charge nine inmates with murder stemming from the violence. A dozen outbreaks of violence in Ecuadorian prisons have killed more than 400 people since 2001. Prison violence reflects a deteriorating security situation across the Andean nation.