OAN’s Abril Elfi
11:44 AM – Wednesday, January 10, 2024
Masked and armed men forced their way onto the set of a television studio in Ecuador during a live broadcast as crime and violence in the country continues to rise.
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On Tuesday, masked men with firearms stormed onto the set of a public TV studio during a scheduled broadcast and were reportedly seen waving guns and explosives, as well as “holding the employees in the studio hostage.”
According to Ecuadorian authorities, no one was killed during the attack and all 13 gunmen have now been arrested and charged with domestic terrorism.
Alina Manrique, the head of news for TC Television, who was near the incident and across from the studio, stated that the masked men broke into the building while she was in the media control room. Manrique went on to say that one of the men ordered her to get on the ground while pointing a gun at her head.
The incident was broadcast live, but after roughly fifteen minutes, the station’s signal was lost. Manrique claimed that when the attackers realized the police were encircling them, some of them fled the studio and attempted to hide.
After the startling barge-in, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa declared that the country had entered a 60-day state of emergency due to the “internal armed conflict.”
Noboa designated nearly two dozen gangs as terrorist organizations, including Los Choneros, on Tuesday in an extended decree. According to government officials, Noboa’s proposal to construct a new, high-security prison for the leaders of these gangs is what has prompted the rise in violence.
Head of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces Admiral Jaime Vela stated, “They have created a wave of violence to frighten the populace,” adding that the decree made the gangs military targets.
The recent incident reportedly also follows prison escapes of two notable gang leaders. Ecuadorian officials declared on Tuesday that Fabricio Colón Pico, the leader of the Los Lobos gang, had broken out of a Riobamba jail.
Additionally, in another region of Ecuador, it was reported that at least seven police officers had been kidnapped and surrounded by implanted explosives.
A man named Colón Pico, who was apprehended on Friday in connection with an ongoing kidnapping investigation, is also suspected of attempting to kill one of the top prosecutors in the country.
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