Soldiers patrol from on top of an armored vehicle as supporters of presidential candidate Daniel Noboa, of the National Democratic Action Alliance political party, attend a rally downtown in Esmeraldas, Ecuador, Friday, October 6, 2023. Ecuador will hold a presidential runoff on October 15. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
QUITO, Ecuador 鈥� Six Colombians arrested as the alleged assassins of a candidate in Ecuador鈥檚 August presidential election were slain Friday inside a prison in Guayaquil, officials announced, without providing details on what happened.
The prison authority said only that six prisoners killed inside Litoral Penitentiary were the men 鈥渃harged with the murder of former presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.鈥� It identified them as Jhon Gregore R., Andr茅s Manuel M., Adey Fernando G., Camilo Andr茅s R., Sules Osmini C., and Jos茅 Neyder L.
Earlier, the agency had reported that 鈥渁n event occurred inside鈥� the prison and six people were dead. Litoral is Ecuador鈥檚 biggest prison and is considered one of its most dangerous, being the scene of several riots with deaths in the past three years.
The killings came as the Prosecutor鈥檚 Office was near the conclusion of the investigation stage into the killing of Villavicencio, who was gunned down on August 9 while leaving a political rally.
The 59-year-old politician had not been considered among the front-runners, but the assassination in broad daylight less than two weeks before the vote was a shocking reminder of the surge in crime besetting Ecuador. He had reported being threatened by affiliates of Mexico鈥檚 Sinaloa drug cartel, one of the many international organized crime groups operating in Ecuador.
READ: Suspects in Ecuador assassination are Colombian, police say
Villavicencio鈥檚 alleged hitmen were captured hours after the crime and ordered held in preventive detention. Six other people also have been arrested for suspected involvement.
Although authorities released no information on the killings Friday, local media said the deaths occurred in pavilion 7, which officials have said is dominated by the local gang Los Choneros, led by Adolfo Mac铆as. In his election campaign, Villaviciencio directly denounced Mac铆as as the author of threats against his life.
READ: Ecuador holds 6 Colombians in slaying presidential candidate as violence weighs on nation
President Guillermo Lasso, who is out of the country, wrote on the social network X, formerly called Twitter, that he would return to Ecuador to attend to the emergency.
鈥淣either complicity nor cover-up, the truth will be known here,鈥� he said.
Ecuador is holding a runoff presidential election Oct. 15 pitting the two top finishers in the August vote 鈥� leftist Luisa Gonz谩lez and former lawmaker Daniel Noboa, who is the son of a banana tycoon.