VOA慢速英语--厄瓜多尔监狱暴乱致116人死亡,总统宣布全国监狱系统进入紧急状态

Ecuador's president has declared a state of emergency in the prison system after rioting killed 116 people earlier this week.

The order was issued by President Guillermo Lasso. It will give the government powers that include deploying¹ police and soldiers inside prisons.

The action came after a deadly battle Tuesday night between gang members at the Litoral prison in the port city of Guayaquil. The riot killed 116 people and injured 80 more. Officials said at least five of the dead had been decapitated.

The prison has experienced a series of bloody² clashes in recent months. But the latest fighting was the deadliest act of violence ever reported in Ecuador's prison system. Officials blame the clashes on gangs linked to international drug organizations who are fighting for control.

Lasso told reporters what had happened at the prison was "bad and sad." He said he could not guarantee that officials had been able to regain³ control of the prison. "I ask God to bless Ecuador that we can avoid more loss of human life," Lasso added.

"It is regrettable that the prisons are being turned into territories for power disputes by criminal gangs," Lasso said. He promised to act with "absolute firmness" to regain control of Litoral and to prevent the violence from spreading to other prisons.

Images shared on social media showed many bodies inside the prison in battle-like settings. Officials said rioters had used guns, knives and bombs during the fighting.

Family members of the victims arrived at the prison to seek information about relatives and demand accountability from officials responsible for safety. The government increased the military presence outside the area. Lasso said the state would assist the families of dead and injured prisoners.

Similar clashes took place in February and July of this year in different prisons throughout the country. At least 79 people died in the February violence, while 22 were killed in July.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has condemned⁴ similar violence in the past. Human Rights Watch urged Ecuador's government to fully⁵ investigate the latest prison violence and bring those responsible to justice.

In August, Lasso said the government would provide more money to help deal with overcrowding issues and for new equipment to improve security.

Words in This Story

gang – n. a group of young people who do illegal things together and who often fight against other gangs

decapitate – v. to cut off a person's head

bless – v. to ask for God's help and protection for someone or something

regret – v. a feeling of sadness about something sad or wrong or a mistake

absolute – adj. very great or to the largest degree possible

accountability – n. the fact or condition of being accountable; responsibility

1 deploying   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Provides support for developing and deploying distributed, component-based applications. 为开发和部署基于组件的分布式应用程序提供支持。
• Advertisement, publishing, repair, and install-on-demand are all available when deploying your application. 在部署应用程序时提供公布、发布、修复和即需即装功能。

2 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

3 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

4 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。