QUITO: All remaining 136 prison guards and administrative workers who were seized as hostages during prison riots in Ecuador were freed on Saturday night, prison authorities said.
Neary 180 prison guards and civil servants had been taken hostage by rioting inmates after President Daniel Noboa launched a military crackdown on criminal groups this week, sparking a deadly confrontation with narco gangs in the South American country.
"Security protocols and the joint work of the police and the national army enabled the release of all the hostages who were being held in various prisons across the country," the SNAI prison authorities said in a statement on X.
Images broadcast by the police showed the guards, many in tears, exhausted and supported by their colleagues shortly after their release.
"We are released (...) Thank God we all got out safely," a prison employee said in a video posted on social media, waving the Ecuadorian flag and standing in front of one prison in southern Cotopaxi province.
Earlier, 41 hostages had been freed, including 24 guards and 17 administration employees.
"Congratulations to the patriotic, professional and courageous work of the armed forces, national police and the SNAI (...) for achieving the release of the prison guards and administrative staff held in the detention centres of Azuay, Canar, Esmeraldas, Cotopaxi, Tungurahua, El Oro and Loja," he wrote.
The crisis was triggered by the escape from Guayaquil prison of one of the country's most powerful narcotics gang bosses, Jose Adolfo Macias, known by the alias "Fito", who headed the country's main gang "Los Choneros".
Riots erupted in at least five prisons and attacks on security forces following his escape.
At least 19 people have died in the violence, including civilians, prison guards and police in the last week, according to SNAI authorities.
Authorities said eight "terrorists" were killed and 27 escaped prisoners were recaptured.
The SNAI has said it will investigate the causes and those responsible for the prison riots.
Hundreds of military personnel and police have been deployed in a manhunt for Fito since Monday, while Noboa announced a 60-day nationwide state of emergency and a nightly curfew.
Noboa has vowed not to bow before the violence, giving orders to "neutralise" the criminal groups responsible.
"I believe we are going to win and I will not stop fighting until we do," he said on Friday.
Narco gangs often use prisons as criminal offices, from where they manage drug trafficking, order assassinations, administer the proceeds of crime and fight to the death with rivals for power. — AFP
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