48 prisoners escape from Ecuadorian jail

At least 48 inmates escaped from prison in the northern city of Esmeraldas in Ecuador, confirmed the National Service of Integral Attention to Adults Deprived of Liberty and Adolescent Offenders (SNAI) on Monday, Report informs via Xinhua.

The escape was "evidenced" on Sunday when the national police and the armed forces carried out a search operation in the prison, said SNAI in a statement, noting that five prisoners were "recaptured."

The Sunday operation in the Esmeraldas prison was part of simultaneous interventions of the public forces in all the prisons of the country. This was aimed at regaining control after riots broke out in several prisons last week.

Riots erupted on January 8 in several prisons after authorities confirmed the escape of a drug trafficking kingpin from a jail in the southwestern coastal city of Guayaquil.

The unrest spread to several cities in the country on January 9, when criminal gangs unleashed a series of violent moves including attacks, armed assaults, car bombings and police kidnappings.

As of Monday, security forces have arrested 1,534 people, with 158 of them on charges of "terrorism" during 15,461 operations carried out since January 9, according to the government.