Inmates Free 57 Ecuador Prison Guards After Stand-Off

Inmates in six Ecuadorian prisons have released 50 guards and seven police officers they had taken hostage.

The 57 freed hostages are “undergoing medical evaluation” but appear to be in good health, according to SNAI.

Reports say the kidnappings were coordinated by criminal gangs angry at attempts to curb their power.

According to the report, two car bombs which went off near police buildings in the capital, Quito, have also been blamed on the gangs.

The authorities believe at least one of the incidents could be retaliation for a police search for weapons at one of the country’s biggest jails.

Hundreds of police officers and soldiers searched at Cotopaxi jail in Latacunga, about 55 miles (88km) south of Quito, as part of efforts to prevent further violence at the prison on Wednesday.

Normal activities have now been resumed in the six facilities, including a young offenders unit which was badly damaged by an arson attack. Officials have not offered any details as to how or why the officers were released.

“The measures we have taken, especially in the prison system, have generated violent reactions from criminals that seek to intimidate the state,” President Guillermo Lasso said on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday night.

BBC