Quito:Eight inmates were killed on Thursday in two separate prison riots in Ecuador's Andean provinces of Cotopaxi and Pichincha, according to a government authority responsible for prisons.

According to Anadolu Agency – English, the National Service for Comprehensive Care for Adults Deprived of Liberty and Adolescent Offenders (SNAI) reported that four inmates died at a prison in Latacunga, while another four were killed at the El Inca prison in Quito.

The SNAI stated that 10 other individuals were injured during the incidents and are currently receiving medical treatment. Authorities have identified those allegedly involved in the riots and plan to transfer them to El Encuentro, a maximum-security prison in the coastal province of Santa Elena.

Additionally, the prison authority mentioned that law enforcers are conducting operations at the affected facilities to restore order. Prisons in Ecuador have become major flashpoints of violence, with deadly clashes between rival criminal gangs claiming dozens of lives in a series of massacres since 2021.