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A strong explosion that occurred early this Sunday in a neighborhood of the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, left at least 5 dead and 17 injured, authorities reported.
The National Service for Risk and Emergency Management of Ecuador (Sngre) reported that, in addition to the victims, eight homes and two vehicles were destroyed by the detonation that occurred in the neighborhood Christ of consolation.
Of las hospitalized people, From were in critical condition until Sunday followingnoon. Several of the victims suffered mutilations.
“I have stated in Exception status to the city of Guayaquil due to criminal events in recent hours. The entire public force will be available to restore control of the city,” said President Guillermo Lasso.
“We condemn any criminal act that endangers the lives of Ecuadorians. Those responsible will face the full weight of the law and the families who are victims of this attack will have all the social assistance that is necessary from this government,” he said on Twitter.
For his part, the Minister of the Interior, Patricio Carrillo, described the explosion as “a declaration of war on the state” on his Twitter account. He explained that homemade explosives made from chemical substances were used. He ruled out the use of grenades or devices for police or military use.
Presumably, the minister said, the attacks were directed once morest a subject known by the alias “Cucaracha”, as well as once morest another known as “Junior”, who would be related to the so-called band “Tigerones”.
This is linked to retail drug trafficking and the massacres that have taken place over the last two years in various Ecuadorian prisons.
image source, Getty Images
Guayaquil, one of the most populous cities in Ecuador and the country’s foreign trade port, has experienced a wave of violence and gang-related crime criminalssuch as assassinations between rivals and shooting confrontations.
The government of Lasso and that of the mayor of Guayaquil, Cynthia Viteri they have confronted each other over the responsibility of public safety.
What is known regarding the explosion?
The explosion occurred around 3:00 a.m. (08:00 GMT) on a street in Cristo del Consuelo, a popular neighborhood in Guayaquil.
According to the testimony of several neighbors, interviewed by the local press, a gunshot and the presence of motorcycles were heard before the detonation.
Later a sack of explosives was thrown outside a food store. Several of the victims were there and in adjoining houses that were destroyed.
image source, Getty Images
image source, Attorney General of Ecuador
The government offered a US$10,000 reward for information leading to the capture of those responsible, whose identity is unknown.
In a statement, the Ecuadorian Government Ministry expressed condolences to the families of “the victims of this act of terrorism.”
“We cannot return the lives of those who died, but we will identify those guilty of this crime and the full weight of the law will fall on them,” the note reads.
political showdown
After what happened this Sunday, the mayor of Guayaquil demanded that the government of Guillermo Lasso give results in terms of security.
“We have reached a stage where it seems that the criminal gangs have become a state within the Ecuadorian state,” said Cynthia Viteri in a statement in which she blames the national security forces for the crisis in the city.
In response, the Minister of the Government, Francisco Jiménez, stated that Viteri should act “responsibly and without demagoguery.”
“I remind you that your political party has administered the city for the last 30 years, therefore do not commit the nonsense of evading your responsibility so banally.”
The confrontation on Twitter was criticized by Ecuadorians who demand that the authorities work together to improve security.
For the lawyer and activist Pedro Granja, the situation in Guayaquil is similar to the one that affected the Colombian city of Medellin at the time, during the time of drug trafficker Pablo Escobar.
“The Christ of Consuelo is the heartbreaking image of a country abandoned to its fate,” he said on Twitter.
image source, Getty Images
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