One Ecuadorian news team found their broadcast facing one hell of an interruption on Tuesday afternoon, after several armed gunmen stormed their Guayaquil studio, taking hostages while cameras rolled.
Así se divertían mientras llegaban las fuerzas de orden público. pic.twitter.com/0I0jhwbTU3
— Alejandro | Inversión & Actualidad (@Alpha_News__) January 9, 2024
In several now-viral clips of the incident, hooded, gun-wielding men could be seen terrorizing what appear to be reporters and staffers at government-owned TV network, TC Televisión, forcing them to the ground while threatening them with weapons — and at one point, even flaunting their grenades before the camera.
| URGENTE: Delincuentes irrumpieron en TC Televisión y secuestran a todos en vivo y directo en Guayaquil, Ecuador. pic.twitter.com/ob1yleusOc
— Alerta Mundial (@AlertaMundoNews) January 9, 2024
While the dramatic scene continued to air for roughly 15 tense minutes, an affair underscored with the sounds of screams and gunfire, as CNN reported, the network ultimately went dark.
We need help in ecuador pic.twitter.com/LNNvi78FZu
— Roberto Retto BJJ (@Roberto001BJJ) January 9, 2024
Police were later able to enter the building, where they said they arrested “several subjects and evidence linked to the crime,” per Policía Ecuador’s official Twitter page.
CAPTURADOS
— Policía Ecuador (@PoliciaEcuador) January 9, 2024
Como resultado de la intervención en @tctelevision #GYE, nuestras unidades policiales hasta el momento logran la aprehensión de varios sujetos e indicios vinculados al ilícito.
Posterior más detalles... pic.twitter.com/tPq7FfaGcM
The incident comes shortly after Ecuador’s President, Daniel Noboa, declared a state of emergency, a decision stemming from outbursts of violence at several prisons throughout the nation, and the escape of drug lord José Adolfo Macías, — the country’s “most wanted” criminal, per Time.
We can only hope the channel gets back to its scheduled programming — after all, they have one hell of an exclusive.
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