violence

Gunmen Storm TC Televisión, Take Staff Hostage on Live Air

| Ecuador Narco Crisis

Armed men storm the TC Televisión studio in Guayaquil during a live broadcast, brandishing guns and explosives and taking journalists and staff hostage on camera. The images, broadcast nationally before the feed is cut, become the defining symbol of the crisis and prompt Noboa's 'internal armed conflict' declaration hours later. Police retake the station and free the hostages without loss of life.