Hooded gunmen have burst onto a live TV set in Ecuador – a day after the country’s president declared a state of emergency following the escape of one of the country’s most-notorious drug gang bosses from prison.
Live television images broadcast on Tuesday showed people wearing balaclavas – some waving guns – inside Ecuador’s TC Television station in Guayaquil.
They were seen telling staff to lie down on the floor and shouted that they had “bombs”, while shouting and noises similar to gunshots could be heard in the background.
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Live television images broadcast showed the gunmen inside Ecuador’s TC television station in Guayaquil.. Pic: TC
Some of the group gestured at the camera and someone could be heard yelling “no police”, before the broadcast feed was eventually cut.
The national police said on social media its specialised units had been deployed to the television station, before publishing footage of armed officers surrounding the building.
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Police respond to the attack. Pic:AP /Cesar Munoz
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Pic: AP/Cesar Munoz
Ecuador’s attorney general’s office later said 13 people had been arrested for breaking into the studio and are set to be charged with terrorism offences.
The charge holds a penalty of up to 13 years in prison under Ecuadorian law, if convicted.
National police commander Cesar Zapata told the TV channel Teleamazonas that officers had seized a number of guns and explosives.
Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa recognised an “internal armed conflict” and identified nearly two dozen gangs as terrorist groups, making them military targets.
Peru’s government on Tuesday declared an emergency along its northern border with Ecuador and ordered the “immediate” deployment of a police border, in a bid to boost security.
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Police arrested several people at the scene. Pic: Ecuador National Police via Reuters
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Pic: Ecuador National Police via Reuters
‘I am still in shock’
Alina Manrique, the head of news for TC Television, said she was in the control room across from the studio when the masked men entered the building.
One of the men pointed a gun at her head and told her to get on the floor, she said.
“I am still in shock,” Ms Manrique told the Associated Press (AP).
“Everything has collapsed. All I know is that it’s time to leave this country, and go very far away.”
The astonishing incident comes a day after President Noboa declared a 60-day state of emergency after one of the country’s most-notorious drug gang bosses escaped from prison.
At least seven police officers have also been kidnapped, and there have been a series of explosions reported across the South American country.
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Soldiers patrol the perimeter of Inca prison during a state of emergency in Quito, Ecuador. Pic: AP
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Soldiers atop an armoured vehicle after Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa declared a state of emergency. Pic: Reuters
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Members of military stand guard near the Presidential Palace in Quito, Ecuador. Pic: Reuters
Mr Noboa, the son of one of Ecuador’s richest men, took office in November promising to stem a wave of drug-related violence on the streets and in prisons.
The drug lord, Adolfo Macias – also known as Fito – was first reported missing from his cell on Sunday.
The leader of the Los Choneros gang was serving a 34-year sentence in La Regional prison for drug trafficking and murder.
His reported escape occurred on the same day he was scheduled to be transferred to a maximum security facility in the city of Guayaquil.
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The leader of the powerful Los Choneros gang, Jose Adolfo Macias, alias ‘Fito’ Pic: Ecuadorean Armed Forces
Ecuador’s prosecutors have filed charges against two prison guards as part of their investigation into the alleged escape.
Los Choneros is one of the gangs authorities consider responsible for a spike in violence that reached new heights last year with the assassination of the presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.
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The state of emergency announced by Mr Noboa allows for the use of military patrols, on the streets and in prisons, and the setting of a national nighttime curfew.
