Ecuador: Gang Members Storm Hospital to Kill Teen From Rival Gang; Nurses Taken as Hostages

Seven gang members in Ecuador were arrested after they barged into a hospital in an attempt to kill a 17-year-old from a rival gang.

According to BBC, officials noted that gang members had taken the nurses hostage for more than an hour and exchanged fires with authorities before they managed to arrest them.

All hostages were eventually freed, and no one was injured. The 17-year-old target was known as "Dirty Face," and he is believed to be a rival gang member currently in intensive care recovering from bullet wounds.

One employee said the gunmen took five staff members hostage. A video circulating on social media shows balaclava-clad men holding guns. Armed men were also seen to be shoving a screaming woman through one of the hospital's exit doors and dragging her back into the building.

Other employees at the hospital in the western city of Chone in Ecuador said they locked themselves in the rooms while gunmen opened doors searching for the 17-year-old.

A representative of the hospital employees, Homero Andrade, told El Diario that the armed men did not know the hospital layout, so the gang members were roaming through the entire hospital. Andrade said they were thankful to the police they were still alive "to tell the tale."

Ecuador's president Guillermo Lasso also thanked the police. He said lives were saved because of the intervention of the authorities.

Ecuador Gang in Prison

Earlier this month, another prison riot occurred, killing 10 inmates in a prison in Ecuador's capital, Quito. Authorities noted that the prison riot happened due to the government's decision to relocate three crime bosses to a high-security facility.

The latest riot happened at El Inca prison after the government noted that it was moving inmates suspected of being the masterminds behind previous prison disturbances.

One of the crime leaders was identified as Los Lobos gang leader Jonathan Bermudez. He was reportedly responsible for previous killings at El Inca.

Police Commander Victor Herrera said at the time that heavy security was deployed while forensics personnel removed the bodies of those killed.

Herrera added that the cause of death of those who had been killed appeared to be strangulation. Since 2020, more than 400 inmates have been killed in gang-related violence in prisons, according to prison authorities.

Gang Violence in Ecuador

Earlier this month, a state of emergency and curfews had been declared in two Ecuador provinces after a series of gang attacks that led to five police officers' death.

Guillermo Lasso noted that the attacks by the powerful drug gangs "were a declaration of war." Ecuador's president threatened to retaliate after the government introduced a tougher measure to curb the gangs' power inside prisons.

In the coastal provinces of Guayas and Esmeraldas, nine separate attacks were conducted. It was in response to the transfers of prisoners from overcrowded and violent jails.

Police said two officers were killed in an attack on a patrol car in the suburbs of Guayas, while three others were shot dead in Guayaquil city.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Ecuador Cracks Down on Gang Violence After Police Killings - From Al Jazeera English