Armed men wearing hoods stormed the set of public television in Guayaquil, southwestern Ecuador, this afternoon, briefly holding journalists and other workers hostage, according to images broadcast live by the television network, in the latest incident of the series. unprecedented security crisis in the country.

“Don’t shoot, please, don’t shoot,” a woman shouts amid gunfire as the attackers – wielding pistols, rifles and some hand grenades – force terrified people to the ground.

Among them some wear hoods and others caps. Others do not hide their faces or take videos with their mobile phones, while several make characteristic gestures used by members of criminal gangs linked to drug trafficking and spreading terror in Ecuador.

“They came in to kill us, God protect us,” was the message sent to an AFP correspondent by one of the journalists being held hostage.

In the middle of shooting, the transmission of these surreal images continues live for several minutes, despite the lights on the set going out and the camera freezing. Until, apparently, the police intervened.

“Units of the national police (…) were alerted to this criminal act and are already at the scene,” the police said in a message to the press.

This new incident, whose development is still unknown, culminates a security crisis that nothing seems to be able to stop, after three days marked by the escape of a dangerous gang leader, prison riots, the declaration of a state of emergency emergency and the kidnapping of police officers.

“These are extremely difficult days,” as the government has taken “the important decision to fight these terrorist threats head-on,” presidential communications secretary Roberto Ithurrieta said today.