El Salvador prison gang violence: 14 dead

The Directorate General of Prisons said the killings were presumed to be an “act of purification”/Pic:Getty ImagesAt least 14 gang members have been killed in a prison in the north of El Salvador, authorities have said.

Bodies of the victims were found scattered around the prison area as relatives, newsmen and paramedics waited outside the prison for information on Sunday morning.

A state of emergency was declared for 72 hours at the jail and authorities insisted that they were in full control of the situation.

“There has been an internal confrontation”, said Chicas.

On August 19, National Police chief, Mauricio Ramirez, released figures indicating that there were at least 125 murders across the Central American country in only three days.

El Salvador has been racked by rising violence over the past year, with murders surging since the breakdown of a gang truce between the Barrio 18 group and their rivals, the Mara Salvatrucha.

“These are worrisome numbers”.

The Quezaltepeque penitentiary held around 1,000 inmates, majority members of the Barrio 18 gang.

The gangs emerged in the 1980s in Latino neighborhoods in Los Angeles.

President Sanchez Ceren has focused on tackling crime since he took office but the country has faced a sharp increase in violence since 2014.

Late last month, street gangs in El Salvador killed seven bus drivers for defying their order for public transport strike.