Prison riot in southern Ecuador leaves 4 inmates dead
At least four inmates were killed Sunday in a prison riot in Machala, the capital of Ecuador's southern coastal province of El Oro, the national prison administration agency SNAI said, reported Xinhua. The unrest broke out in the early hours at Prison No. 1 in Machala, SNAI said in a statement. Local media reported that the riot was sparked by the "reorganization" and transfer of inmates to a maximum-security facility, leaving at least 40 people injured. Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa on Tuesday declared a new 60-day state of emergency in five coastal provinces and three municipalities in the central provinces of Cotopaxi and Bolivar to quell "grave internal unrest" fueled by escalating violence from organized crime.