This is how the area remained on Sunday after the explosion in Guayaquil.
Credit: MARCOS PIN/AFP via Getty Images
(CNN Spanish) --
At least 5 people died this Sunday and 16 are injured after an explosion in Cristo del Consuelo, in Guayaquil, reported the National Risk and Emergency Management Service of Ecuador.
The explosion, which occurred in the early morning hours, destroyed 8 homes and 2 cars, according to reports from the authorities released on Twitter.
Guayaquil firefighters attended the emergency, and it is still formally unknown what caused the explosion.
Credit: MARCOS PIN/AFP via Getty Images
However, just hours after the incident, the Minister of the Interior, Patricio Carrillo, said on his Twitter account that it could have been an attack with explosives.
“Organized crime mercenaries, who have drugged the economy for a long time, now attack with explosives,” he said.
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Organized crime mercenaries, who have long drugged the economy, now attack with explosives.
It is not a problem of the @PoliciaEcuador.
It is a declaration of war on the state.
Either we unite to face it or the price will be even higher for society.
https://t.co/CUbVqrU2QB
– Patricio Carrillo (@CarrilloRosero) August 14, 2022
Authorities are expected to provide more information about the explosion in Guayaquil at a press conference on Sunday afternoon.
Credit: MARCOS PIN/AFP via Getty Images
So far the identity of the fatalities and the injured is unknown.
Ecuador is the third country with the highest number of drug seizures, according to the UN
V
alentina González contributed to this report.
