At least 68 prisoners were killed and more than two dozen injured in overnight violence at Ecuador's Penitenciaria del Litoral prison, the government said on Saturday.

The police said that the clashes resulted from a power struggle between groups linked to drug trafficking.

Dozens were gathered outside the prison on Saturday afternoon, waiting for news of loved ones, who many said they had not heard from since Friday afternoon.

Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso reported on Twitter that he has convened a security committee to analyze the situation.

Further disturbances in the penitentiary in the afternoon were under control by Saturday night, the government said, adding it was meeting with rights groups and the United Nations to handle the situation.

Clashes between rival gangs are frequent in Ecuadorian prisons. Such incidents have caused more than 300 deaths so far this year, according to police reports.

On September 29, a revolt at the Litoral Penitentiary in Guayaquil killed 118 prisoners. It is considered the worst prison riot in the country's history. This event led the president to decree a 60-day state of emergency in the country's prison system to stop the wave of violence.

(Cover: The body of a prisoner appears surrounded by police on the roof of the Litoral penitentiary the morning after clashes broke out inside the jail in Guayaquil, Ecuador, November 13, 2021. /AP

(With input from Reuters and Xinhua)