BBC News
Authorities in Ecuador have discovered more bodies in a prison broken into by rioters, bringing the total death toll to dozens.
Another 62 inmates were injured on Sunday, the worst outbreak of violence in recent years.
The prisoners set fire to a wing of the prison and then went on the rampage, trying to take over a prison bus.
In this week’s unrest, authorities say the attack was sparked by prisoners having their cigarettes stolen.
A new wing of the Apurimac jail near the capital, Quito, was overwhelmed by around 600 inmates.
President Lenin Moreno has pledged to take decisive action and order a full investigation.
The violence began with a battle over stolen cigarettes, according to attorney general Francisco Garcia.
About 300 inmates then burned down an administrative wing and started a battle with guards, before several dozen prisoners decided to take over a prison bus and enter the rest of the jail, he added.
However, inmates inside one wing were able to escape from their prison housing areas.
Garcia said that prisoners were able to control police armed with shields and batons.
Local media reported that 22 people died in the violence, while the justice minister put the toll at 23.
The prisoners have been moved to other prisons, which were on full alert, police said, though no officials were injured.
They are believed to be taking cover in a building called the Gran Salud clinic, which specialises in providing essential health services.
The riot occurred at a jail that has been designated an overcrowded facility by the government and is designated as a “special prison.”
It houses more than 900 prisoners, according to the National Institute of Prisons.
In March, UN rights experts called on Ecuador to improve living conditions in prisons.
The United Nations human rights chief warned that too many people were in jails, with plans to release many held for crimes they had not committed.
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