No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeArchiveDeath Toll Hits 21 in El Salvador Prison Riot

Death Toll Hits 21 in El Salvador Prison Riot

SAN SALVADOR – The death toll quickly rose to 21 in a Jan. 6 uprising started by gang members at the Apanteos prison in western El Salvador, 70 kilometers from the capital, according to prison officials.

Alberto Uribe, the communications chief for the bureau of prisons, said the final casualty figures were compiled after the riot had been controlled and the prison inspected. He said the coroner’s office had identified 16 of the dead, but the identities of the remaining bodies could not be determined because of the extensive damage to the inmates’ heads and faces.

Uribe said about 100 inmates were transferred to another prison in the city of Santa Ana for security reasons. He added that several blocks of the Apanteos facility were destroyed by the gang members.

The bureau of prisons on Jan. 6 declared a state of emergency lasting at least two weeks at the Apanteos prison, Uribe said, adding that inmates would be locked down and would not be able to receive visitors during that period.

The prison uprising started when groups of inmates began knocking down or making holes – apparently using parts of broken beds – in some of the walls of the penitentiary, according to reports.

“It is one of the ugliest massacres that has occurred in recent times; it’s a monstrosity,” said El Salvador’s human-rights ombudswoman, Beatrice de Carrillo.

She said that in a brief tour of the inside of the prison she saw “within the cells feet, heads covered with mats …We don’t know if they are the same (inmates) who were sleeping there or if they brought them to those cells to execute them.”

El Salvador’s two largest violent youth gangs, the Mara 18 and Mara Salvatrucha, are both represented in the prison. The country’s prisons are badly overcrowded.

 

Trending Now

Costa Rica Joins U.S. Global Entry, Easing Travel for Tourists

Costa Rica took a big step forward, by officially joining the U.S. Global Entry program, a move set to make travel smoother for Costa...

Why Costa Rica Feels Like a Safe Haven for This Longtime Expat

If someone asked me to sum up why I live in Costa Rica in 5 words or less, my answer could well be: “It...

Costa Rica Hunts for Nicaraguan Hit Squad After Exile’s Assassination

Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) is investigating whether a hit squad tied to Nicaragua’s Ortega-Murillo regime is targeting exiled critics on its soil....

El Salvador Slams Paris Fashion Show Inspired by Cecot Mega-Prison Inmates

The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, joked on Saturday that he could send inmates from his mega-prison to France, after they were represented...

Costa Rica’s Piangua Mollusk Threatened by Pineapple Farm Runoff

Costa Rica’s Térraba-Sierpe National Wetland, a 33,000-hectare haven of mangroves and rivers, is under siege from an unlikely source: pineapple farms. A study by...

Costa Rica’s Pride March 2025 Defies Restrictions and Celebrates Diversity

A large crowd gathered in Paseo Colón, San José, to participate in the LGBTIQ+ Pride March 2025. It began at noon, as people marched...
Avatar
spot_img
Costa Rica Tours
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait
Costa Rica Travel

Latest News from Costa Rica