QUITO: Eight people died and two were injured when armed attackers opened fire outside a nightclub in southwestern Ecuador.
Police colonel Javier Chango confirmed officers responded to an emergency call and discovered seven bodies at the scene, with an eighth victim later succumbing to injuries in hospital.
The assault occurred at 1:15 am local time in Santa Lucia, a town of 38,000 residents in Guayas Province, where gunmen arrived in two pickup trucks and targeted patrons drinking outside the venue.
Nightclub owner Jorge Urquizo, brother of Santa Lucia’s mayor, was among those killed in the attack.
Investigators recovered 800 bullet casings from the crime scene as evidence.
Authorities reported the assailants fled in their vehicles along an undetermined escape route following the shooting.
Police detained a truck driver carrying a revolver near the scene but have not established his connection to the attack.
No motive has been identified for the violence that left victims’ bodies transported to a morgue in nearby Daule city.
The mayor’s office issued a statement expressing solidarity with grieving families, calling the incident “a violent attack that has struck our community.”
Ecuador faces surging gang-related violence as criminal groups linked to international drug cartels battle for control of trafficking routes.
Government figures show over 70% of global cocaine shipments now transit through Ecuadorian ports.
President Daniel Noboa imposed a two-month state of emergency in Guayas and three other provinces to counter gang activity, though intensified security operations have failed to curb killings.
Official data records 4,051 homicides between January and May, marking Ecuador’s most violent five-month period in recent history. – AFP
