Quito, Jul 23 (IANS): At least 21 prisoners were killed and several others injured during riots in two prisons in Ecuador, the Attorney General's Office said.

In a statement on Thursday, the Office confirmed that the incidents took place in the prisons located the provinces of Guayas and Cotopaxi on Wednesday night, Xinhua news agency reported.

Few hours later, security agents and prison guards, together with elite groups of the National Police, regained control of the jails.

In a series of tweets on Thursday, the Attorney General's Office said that it had "gathered evidence and started an investigation after the confrontations yesterday (Wednesday) inside the Guayaquil (provincial capital of Guayas) prison, which left eight prisoners dead and three policemen wounded".

In another post, it added that it had "removed 13 bodies after the clashes registered yesterday inside the Cotopaxi prison. The bodies were taken to the Forensic Center of Ambato".

The National Police said on Thursday that it was carrying out simultaneous operations with its preventive, investigative and intelligence units to recapture the inmates who escaped from Cotopaxi prison, with 61 prisoners recaptured so far.

This was the second large-scale prison riot in the South American country this year, after one in February in three prisons, which resulted in the deaths of 79 inmates.