Car bomb kills one in Guayaquil
A car bomb explosion outside a shopping mall in Guayaquil, Ecuador, on Tuesday resulted in at least one person dead and two injured, reports 24brussels. The fatality was identified as a local taxi driver. The explosion occurred around 6 p.m. local time and caused extensive damage to nearby vehicles and buildings.
In response, authorities, including the Fire Department and the Municipal Public Company for Risk Management, swiftly deployed security, emergency, and traffic control units to the scene, just outside the Mall del Sol shopping center in northern Guayaquil.
Ecuador’s Interior Minister John Reimberg confirmed that two vehicles were involved in the incident; the first detonated, while a second vehicle contained an explosive device that failed to explode and was subsequently neutralized by the police bomb squad.
Reimberg condemned the attack as a “terrorist act,” asserting that the device had been professionally manufactured by criminal groups intent on inciting chaos in Ecuador. “In light of what happened in Guayaquil, the National Police is working around the clock to counter the threat and find those responsible for this terrorist act,” Reimberg stated on X.
This incident amplifies the escalating violence in Guayaquil, the capital of Guayas province, which has been under a “state of emergency” since August. The country has been grappling with an “internal armed conflict” declared by President Daniel Noboa in January 2024 against 22 criminal gangs designated as terrorist organizations.
