A SEVENTH man accused in the August assassination of an Ecuadorian presidential candidate was killed inside a prison in Ecuador’s capital, authorities said on Saturday.

The killing came a day after six Colombian men, allegedly linked to the murder of Fernando Villavicencio, were slain in a prison in Guayaquil.

The killing of the seven suspects happened a little more than a week before Ecuador holds a presidential run-off election.

The prison system said in a press release that the man killed was being held at a prison in Quito, Ecuador’s capital. It released no details of how it happened and identified him only as Jose M.

President Guillermo Lasso called an emergency meeting of his security cabinet, which decided to move the remaining six suspects in the assassination to a different prison, a government statement said. 

It did not identify the prison to which they were sent for security reasons.

The killings came as the prosecutor’s office is set to announce the outcome of the investigation into the killing of Mr Villavicencio, who was gunned down while leaving a political rally.

Ecuador is holding the run-off presidential election on October 15 between left-wing Luisa Gonzalez and former lawmaker Daniel Noboa, who is the son of a banana tycoon.