Chaos in Ecuador. Armed men burst into the set of a public television (TC) in Guayaquil on Tuesday afternoon, taking journalists and other employees hostage, according to images broadcast live by this channel. The police indicated on X that they had intervened, without specifying whether there were any victims.
“Don’t shoot, please don’t shoot!” “, shouts a woman amid the gunfire, while the attackers, armed with pistols, shotguns and some with homemade grenades, hit and force the terrified people to the ground.
One of them is hooded, others wear hoods and caps. Still others have their faces exposed or film themselves with their mobile phones, while several of them make the usual signs of recognition with the fingers of both hands of the criminal gangs linked to drug trafficking which are causing a reign of terror in Ecuador.
“They came in to kill us, my God protect us,” one of the captive journalists sent to an AFP correspondent in a WhatsApp message. Complaints are audible in the background.
Police intervention and evacuation
Amidst the gunfire, the broadcast of these surreal images continues live for several minutes, despite the lights on the set going out and the camera freezing. Until apparently the police intervened, shouting “Police, police”.
“National police units (…) have been alerted of this criminal act and are already on the scene,” police said in a message to the press. On his official X account, the Ecuadorian police released images of the evacuation of the teams.
This incident comes as President Daniel Noboa declared a state of emergencyMonday, after the escape of public enemy No. 1, Adolfo Macias, alias “Fito”, a drug trafficker and head of the largest criminal gang in the country.