One dead, several injured in explosion at busy Ecuador shopping center / Photo: © AFP
-
Rene Eyre Revisits Autobiographical Performance 'Say A Little Prayer' in London
-
London Museum Granted 24/7 License Ahead of November Opening
-
UAE's HCT Holds Record Graduation and Announces Major Training Expansion
-
Dana White Confirms Flight to Washington for Trump Meeting on Press Secretary Role
-
NASA Awards $10B Lunar Contract Framework to SpaceX, Blue Origin
-
Dengue Fever Expands Into High Himalayas as Climate Change Warms Nepal
-
Katy Perry Tells Fans Ex-Husband Russell Brand 'Should Be in Jail' During UK Concert
-
IoT Refrigerator Hacks Disrupt Blood Labs and Supermarkets Across Europe and US
-
South African election results renew debate over identity-based voting
-
Post-election pressures complicate US and Israeli decisions on Iran
-
South African voters report smoother local election but declining IEC trust
-
UN members approve talks on treaty protocol against environmental crime
-
Dolly Parton museum and Nashville hotel open after singer’s death
-
Family-run West Sussex beach café prepares for first winter season
-
George and Amal Clooney attend New York political-comedy reading
-
CT scans reveal health and burial clues from Egypt’s Braided Lady mummy
-
British buyers pay substantial premiums for period-home appearance
-
Oxford faces complaints over lecturer’s classroom attire
-
Thomas Markle released to house arrest after child-abuse-image charge
-
Kyren Wilson and John Higgins reach International Championship snooker final
-
Dawn of War 4 developers chose Adeptus Mechanicus for tactical variety
-
New Zealand and Tonga meet for place in Rugby League World Cup final
-
Italy face unbeaten South Africa in Turin Nations Championship match
-
Reports of unsafe AI-toy responses renew calls for child-safety rules
-
ChatGPT interactive interface feature tested across six custom tools
One dead, several injured in explosion at busy Ecuador shopping center
One person was killed and several more were injured in an explosion Tuesday at a busy shopping center in the port city of Guayaquil, local authorities said, as Ecuador grapples with a surge of violence related to the Latin American drug trade.
Police said they were still investigating the cause of Tuesday's explosion, which rattled local businesses, restaurants and hotels in a middle-class area.
Samantha Vera told AFP at around 6 pm local time (2300 GMT) she was just "a few meters away" from the explosion.
"We ran away out of fear that something else might happen. We're in shock," the 40-year-old said.
Claudia Quimi, who owns a nearby salon, said the glass windows shook from the "terrible...horrifying blast."
Ecuador has become an epicenter of the global cocaine trade as cartels and mafias shed blood to gain turf.
Violence and chaotic scenes like Tuesday's explosion are on the rise in Guayaquil, where homicide, extortion, robberies and other crimes increasing as the city grapples with its prime coastal location for drug trafficking and other illegal enterprises.
Last month, an explosion went off outside a prison in Guayaquil days after a riot at a different prison left 13 inmates and a guard dead in another part of Ecuador.
As of August, more than 5,200 homicides have been recorded in Ecuador this year alone, and roughly a third of them occurred in Guayaquil, a city of 2.8 million people and the nation's commercial hub.
S.Keller--BTB
