Quito, July 19 (RHC)-- A new confrontation registered this Monday in the prison of Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, province of the Sierra of Ecuador, left at least 12 inmates dead and two wounded.

The death toll was confirmed by the National Service of Integral Attention (SNAI) to Persons Deprived of Liberty, the country's penitentiary unit.  The SNAI also informed that with the help of the Police and the Armed Forces they managed to regain control of the prison, while the Public Prosecutor's Office has begun investigations into the deaths.   Ecuadorian authorities described the unfortunate event as a massacre and barbarism.

The Secretariat of Human Rights informed that they activated a protocol of attention for the relatives of the inmates and that they have coordinated other actions with the SNAI and other entities of the Technical Organism of the National System of Social Rehabilitation.

The confrontation in the Santo Domingo prison is the second one registered in that center since last May, when 44 dead and 10 wounded were reported.  Since February 2021,  Ecuador has recorded at least seven prison massacres with some 400 dead inmates.