Gunmen have broken into an Ecuadorian television station during a live show and threatened the staff.
This was revealed in an AP news video broadcast on YouTube.
During a live broadcast, a dozen masked men came into the set of a public television station, wielding guns and shouting.
The attackers, armed with pistols and what appeared to be dynamite sticks, invaded the Guayaquil station TC and disrupted a news programme.
Staff were ordered to lie on the floor before the incident was broadcast live to thousands of homes throughout the country for roughly 15 minutes until the station signal was switched off.
Ecuador declared a 60-day state of emergency on Monday after a convicted gang leader vanished from his prison cell.
The hooded men were observed leaving the TC studios, and cops were seen entering the set about 30 minutes later.
National police troops have been dispatched to the location from Quito and Guayaquil.
The National Police Force of the country said on X, that staff had been evacuated from the studio.
President Daniel Noboa responded to the incident by signing an Executive Order proclaiming an internal armed conflict and designating various organized crime gangs as “terrorist organizations” and “non-state actors.”
Since the state of emergency was imposed, at least seven police officers have been kidnapped by gang members.
President Noboa enacted the regulations after the chief of the Los Choneros gang vanished from a maximum security prison on Sunday.
In the early hours of Tuesday, about 40 more detainees, including another convicted drug lord, escaped from another jail in Riobamba.
However, it is unclear whether the storming of the television station is related to the prison breakout at this time, but the episode has shown a worsening security situation in the country.
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