Security officials have freed TV station employees that were held at gunpoint by criminal gangs
The hostage crisis at a TV station in Ecuador’s largest city, Guayaquil, has ended with all assailants detained and captives rescued, national police chief Cesar Augusto Zapata Correa announced on Tuesday evening.
Masked gunmen invaded the headquarters of TC Television earlier that day, interrupting a live broadcast and taking journalists and other employees captive. The assault took place amid the national emergency declared by President Daniel Noboa in response to prison riots and attacks by gang members that swept the country on Tuesday.
Heavily armed security forces quickly arrived at the scene and entered the TV station building, detaining 13 assailants and recovering “weapons, explosives and other evidence,” Zapata Correa said. He added that all hostages were freed. He did not report any casualties.
The police operation in @tctelevision He left 13 arrested, weapons, explosives and other evidence. The hostages were released and the workers were taken to safety. The perpetrators will be brought to justice to be punished for the terrorist acts. pic.twitter.com/9KEXWvDfzZ
—GraD. César Augusto Zapata Correa (@CmdtPoliciaEc) January 9, 2024
“The perpetrators will be brought to justice in order to be punished for their terrorist acts,” the police chief wrote on X (formerly Twitter), vowing that law enforcement “will not allow violent actions to threaten order and peace.”
A video posted to social media shows police escorting detainees out of the building.
The freed employees were filmed hugging their loved ones and praying outside the TV headquarters.
At least eight people were killed and two were injured in Guayaquil on Tuesday, Mayor Aquiles Alvarez said at a press conference. President Noboa earlier authorized the military to neutralize criminal gangs he described as “terrorist organizations and belligerent non-state actors.”
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