GUAYAQUIL: One person has died and several others were injured in an explosion at a busy shopping centre in the port city of Guayaquil.
Local authorities confirmed the incident occurred on Tuesday as Ecuador confronts a surge of violence linked to the Latin American drug trade.
Police are still investigating the cause of the explosion, which shook local businesses, restaurants, and hotels in a middle-class neighbourhood.
Samantha Vera told AFP she was just a few metres away from the blast around 6 pm local time.
“We ran away out of fear that something else might happen,“ the 40-year-old said.
Claudia Quimi, a nearby salon owner, reported that the glass windows shook from what she described as a terrible and horrifying blast.
Ecuador has become an epicentre of the global cocaine trade as cartels and mafias fight for territory.
Violent incidents like Tuesday’s explosion are increasing in Guayaquil, where homicide, extortion, and robberies are rising.
The city’s prime coastal location makes it a key hub for drug trafficking and other illegal enterprises.
Last month, an explosion occurred outside a prison in Guayaquil shortly after a riot at another prison left 13 inmates and a guard dead elsewhere in Ecuador.
More than 5,200 homicides have been recorded in Ecuador this year as of August, with roughly a third occurring in Guayaquil.
The city of 2.8 million people serves as the nation’s commercial hub. – AFP
