At least 41 prison workers held by inmates released in Ecuador

But 133 guards and three administrative employees are still being held, according to the country’s prison agency.

At least 41 prison guards and administrative employees who were being held by inmates in Ecuador have been released, the country’s prison agency said Saturday. According to the National Police, 11 people were freed from a prison in Esmeraldas city in northwestern Ecuador on Saturday after mediation by the Catholic church, and another 13 were liberated from a prison in the Tungurahua province. But 133 guards and three administrative employees are still being held, the prison agency SNAI said. The agency reported an armed confrontation at a prison in the southern region of El Oro between inmates and members of the armed forces and the National Police. One prison guard was killed and another was injured in the facility, SNAI said. Ecuador, home to the Galapagos islands and a tourist-friendly dollar economy, was once known as an “island of peace,” nestled between two of the world’s largest cocaine producers, Peru and Colombia.