Over 25 people were also injured in the clashes that followed a smaller armed clash earlier this month in which three prisoners were shot dead.

The fighting, which was attributed the fighting to a prison gang associated with an international drug cartel, lasted almost eight hours, officials said.

“The prisoners tried to dynamite the walls to enter Pavilion 2 to carry out the slaughter. They also tried to burn the mattresses and drown their rivals,” State Governor Pablo Arosemena said.

On September 28, at least 118 inmates were killed and several others were injured in the riot that took place at the Litoral Penitentiary in the city of Guayaquil.

It was the deadliest prison fight in the country's history and one of the deadliest in Latin American history.