Police regain control of Ecuador prison after riot carnage

Police gained control of an Ecuador prison on Sept. 30 where rioting has left at least 118 inmates dead, some of them decapitated, as rival drug gangs went to war armed with guns and grenades.

Another 86 inmates were wounded, six of them critically, according to Ecuador's prisons authority, in one of the deadliest prison battles in South American history.

The riot broke out Tuesday at a prison complex in the port city of Guayaquil between prisoners believed to have links to Mexican drug gangs - mainly the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels.

By late Thursday police commander General Tannya Varela told reporters that the inmates "no longer have control of the cell blocks," adding that the prisoners were now back in their cells and "everything is calm."

The restored order came after a massive security operation involving some 900 officers and members of tactical units engaged in what the police service said was a "mega-operation" to regain control.

On Wednesday at least two officers were injured when rioting inmates, armed with guns, attacked police sent in to retake control of the facility.

Soldiers and tanks were also stationed outside the jail, where hundreds of worried family members have gathered, desperate for news from the men locked up inside.

"It is a very painful thing.... They say people have had their heads taken off," said Juana Pinto, who was seeking news about her inmate son.

Ermes Duarte, 71, who came from the nearby rural town of Salitre, said his son "was only 15 days away from being released. I came because I saw a video, sent to me by cell phone, where I recognized his head."

According to local news site Primicias, the violence erupted when prisoners from one gang celebrated...

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