BUENOS AIRES, January 11. /TASS/. A total of 178 employees at Ecuadorian prisons, including wardens and administrative and technical staff, are being held hostage by prisoners, the Ecuadorian Penitentiary Service said.

"Due to unrest and incidents in the penal system, efforts are currently underway to free 158 penitentiary service officers, as well as 20 administrative and technical staff who are being held in the prisons of El Oro, Cotopaxi, Loja, Azuay, Tungurahua, Canar and Esmeraldas," the agency said.

"We keep on working consistently and responsibly to rescue prison security and surveillance officials, prison staff, as well as inmates," the service added.

The security threat in Ecuador escalated on January 7 after a Los Choneros gang leader, nicknamed Fito, escaped from prison. Afterward, riots broke out in several penitentiaries. Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa declared a state of emergency in the country and imposed a curfew on January 8.

On January 9, Noboa signed a decree recognizing the country’s internal armed conflict and ordered the neutralization of 22 criminal groups.