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An armed gang has stormed one of the main television stations in Ecuador amid a state of emergency sparked after one of the country’s most dangerous men escaped from jail.
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa made the announcement yesterday after drug cartel leader Adolfo Macías broke free from a prison in the coastal city of Guayaquil on Sunday.
As tensions increased in the South American country, masked gangsters carrying machine guns, pistols and sticks of dynamite broke into the headquarters of the TC Televisión network.
Staff could be seen being forced to sit and lie down on the floor of the news studio as the broadcast continued for around 15 minutes before the live feed cut out.
Newspaper El Universo reported that journalists at the station had resorted to pleading for help in group chats.
One message read: ‘They want to kill us all. Help us.’
Special police forces from Quito and Guayaquil were deployed to the scene to deal with the chaos.
They later confirmed on social media that staff had been evacuated from the studio and suspects had been arrested.
Mr Noboa, who was only elected to the position of president in October following an election marred by the assassination of one candidate, declared a state of emergency lasting two months on Monday.
Following the attack on the TV station this evening, he signed an executive order declaring an internal armed conflict.
Early this morning, nearly 40 inmates at another prison in the city of Riobamba also broke free as a growing wave of terror engulfs the country.
Among them was another dangerous drug lord named Fabricio Colón, the leader of the Los Lobos gang who has been linked last year’s assassination of presidental candidate Fernando Villavicencio.
On Monday night, four police officers were kidnapped in the capital Quito and the city of Quevedo. They remain missing.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.
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