At least 15 convicts were killed in a prison in the city of Latacunga, Ecuador, on Monday, according to the SNAI prison agency, while another 21 were injured in the latest instance of deadly prison violence in the Andean nation.

The government of conservative President Guillermo Lasso attributes jail violence to territorial and drug trafficking disputes between gangs.

Oswaldo Coronel, governor of the Cotopaxi province, which encompasses Latacunga, informed reporters that security had been restored while authorities worked to identify the remains.

"At the moment, according to the forensic information from the national police, 15 people have died (and) 21 people have been injured, of which 14 have already been evacuated to hospitals in the city of Latacunga," the governor stated.

In various Ecuadorian institutions, 316 detainees perished amid disturbances in the past year.

13 prisoners were killed in a Santa Domingo jail in July, just two months after 43 detainees were killed by violence at the same facility in May.

According to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Ecuador's jail system is plagued by official neglect, a lack of a clear policy, and bad inmate circumstances.

The country's jails contain approximately 33,500 individuals and are 11.3% over capacity, according to government data.