QUITO (Reuters) - At least 18 inmates died and several police were injured during riots at two of Ecuador's largest penitentiaries, the Andean country's SNAI prison authority said late on Wednesday, marking the second major deadly wave of prison violence this year.
Special police units deployed to the jails in southern Guayas province, home to the largest city of Guayaquil, and Cotopaxi province, south of capital Quito, to quell the violence. In February, at least 79 inmates died at three prisons - including the centers in Guayas and Cotopaxi - in clashes between rival gangs.
