THOUSANDS of rival skinhead gangsters are packed together like sardines inside a hellhole prison in El Salvador.
The Centre for the Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT) in Tecoluca opened its doors six months ago in a bid to crack down on gang violence in the world's murder capital.
The mega-prison is packed with 12,000 bitter rivals from two of the most feared gangs MS-13 and Calle 18, born on the streets of Los Angeles in the early 1980s.
In each 100 square-metre cell, around 75 crammed inmates sleep on metal cabins and are forced to share just two toilets and two sinks.
"Here we are persevering day by day, trying to change with the help of our God," José Hurquilla Bonilla, from the Barrio 18 gang, said from inside his cell.
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With his hands tied, wearing a white T-shirt and shorts, Nelson Velásquez, an inmate in cell 13 of building 3, says that he has already served two sentences for different crimes that totalled 15 years, but now he awaits a new trial.
"When you're a child, anyone lies to you and sugarcoats you. You fall into a mistake, and when you grow up you come to realize it," said the 37-year-old.
Prisoners also plead for officials to give food and medicine for the terminally ill dying around them.
The prison pavilions have a curved roof that guarantees natural ventilation for the prisoners, as well as skylight spaces to filter the sun's rays into a patio that separates the cells.
Human Rights Commissioner of El Salvador Andrés Guzmán visited the prison and insisted the inmates are "in good condition and their human rights are being respected".
But humanitarian groups questioned how gang members are treated at the CECOT.
They say inmates have no mattresses, no chance to step outside into the fresh air, and are regularly beaten and tortured by guards.
The UN denounced that among the tens of thousands of detainees there are at least 1,600 minors.
A report by human rights group Cristosal found that 174 inmates have been tortured and killed in horrifically violent deaths in the year since President Nayib Bukele launched his merciless campaign against the gangs.
President Nayib Bukele said in the new gigantic prison, inmates will no longer have access to "prostitutes, PlayStations, screens, mobile phones and computers."
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As part of his campaign against violent crime, the prison is secured day and night by 600 soldiers and 250 police officers, while prison officials with assault rifles will guard the inside, making it "impossible to escape."
Electronic equipment will block cell phone signals to prevent any communication from the prison, the government has said.
Built in a remote area near Tecoluca, the prison covers 166 hectares and is believed it could be the largest prison in the world.
Currently the title belongs to the Silivri Penitentiaries Campus in Istanbul, Turkey, according to Guinness World Records.
Bukele said the new mega-prison "is a fundamental element in finally winning the war against gangs."
