Assailants with guns in Channel studio during live event; employees threatened, shots fired

ECUADOR: During the live broadcast of a TV program, gunmen stormed the studio and interrupted the program. Masked gunmen stormed Ecuador's TV station TC during a live broadcast.

During a live program on the channel, the assailants came to the studio with guns, raised their guns and told the staff to sit on the floor. Meanwhile, gunshots were heard and the ongoing television program on the channel was interrupted.

Witnesses in the coastal city of Guayaquil said police eventually rescued TV crews and arrested 13 people who broke into TC's studio with long-range guns, grenades and dynamite. "Thank God, we are alive, because it was an extremely violent attack," said Jorge Rendon, deputy director of the news program.

Meanwhile, another channel aired live footage from outside the channel where the violence took place. The TV channel violence incident happened at a time when President Daniel Noboa declared a state of emergency in Ecuador, which is going through a severe political crisis.