Ecuador declares prison emergency as inmates killed and 100 guards taken hostage

President Lasso imposes 60-day order and authorizes armed forces to retake control of country's violence-plagued prisons

Ecuador's president, Guillermo Lasso, has declared a 60-day state of emergency throughout the country's prisons and authorized the armed forces to retake control of jails, following violence in the country's most notorious prison that left 18 dead and a string of protests in which inmates took nearly 100 guards hostage.

The measure - the second state of emergency that Lasso has ordered in less than 24 hours - will be in effect for 60 days and orders the immediate mobilization of the military and police in an effort to regain control of the prisons.