Quito –
Armed men wearing balaclavas stormed the studio of a public television station in the drug-ridden Ecuadorian port city of Guayaquil. According to live footage, the armed group took several journalists and television staff hostage.
“Don’t shoot, please don’t shoot,” one woman shouted as shots rang out as the attackers, armed with rifles and grenades, forced the terrified TV crew to the ground.
The police then went to the scene. The police immediately handled the incident.
“The national police units of Quito and Guayaquil have been informed of this criminal act and are on site,” police said in a brief statement to reporters.
The live broadcast continued without interruption even though the lights on the set went out. About 30 minutes after the gunmen appeared, police were seen entering.
“Police, police,” a man in uniform shouted.
“We have a wounded comrade,” one man said.
“Please, they come to kill us. God does not allow this to happen. Criminals are in the air,” a journalist told AFP via WhatsApp message.
The incident comes as Ecuador’s new president, Daniel Noboa, 36, grapples with a security nightmare following the escape from prison of one of the country’s most notorious gangsters, Jose Adolfo Macias, known as “Fito “.
On Monday, Noboa declared a 60-day national emergency, including in Ecuador’s notorious prisons, and imposed a curfew.
In response, the gangsters took several police officers hostage. They released a terrifying video in which one of them was forced to read a message addressed to Noboa.
“If you declare war, you will get war,” said the clearly frightened officer.
“You have declared a state of emergency. We have declared the police, civilians and soldiers spoils of war,” he added.
Noboa was elected in October on a promise to fight rampant drug-related crime and violence in the South American country, once considered a bastion of peace but now a major stopping point for cocaine trafficking headed to America and Europe.
(lir/lir)
2024-01-09 21:43:07
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