Another Ecuador prison clash leaves 44 inmates dead

Gang leaders who are operating inside the Bellavista jail are transferred to other jails after a deadly riot broke out overnight in Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas, Ecuador, Monday, May 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

A clash between rival Ecuadorian gangs has killed 44 inmates, officials said, little more than a month after another prison riot resulted in 20 deaths.

Interior minister Patricio Carrillo said at a press conference that one group of inmates left their cells to attack another inside Bellavista prison in Santo Domingo, 45 miles west of Quito, the capital.