Ecuador TV station raid: Journalist who had gun to his neck live on air says gunmen threatened to kill him
An Ecuadorian journalist who was held at gunpoint live on air has told Sky News how his attackers threatened to kill him if police arrived.
Jose Luis Calderon said the masked gunmen also placed an improvised explosive in his jacket pocket during the terrifying ordeal at TC Television’s studios in Guayaquil on Tuesday night.
The incident took place after one of the country’s most notorious drug gang bosses escaped from prison, sparking Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa to declare a 60-day state of emergency.
In footage of the incident, which was broadcast live on the TC network, Mr Calderon was seen attempting to plead with the masked gunmen, one of whom pushed a gun to his neck.
“They kept on repeating, ‘if the police come in, we’ll kill you’,” he told Sky News.
“It was a really chaotic moment, but in that instant, I kept my calm. You’ve seen the pictures, I’m calm, looking as if I’m praying, asking them not to go too far.
“There was no explanation about what was happening at that moment.
“The news programme was on air and that’s why you were able to see the footage. You could see what was happening when they pointed a gun at me, they put an explosive in my jacket pocket.
“They were really unnerving moments, but at the same time, I managed to stay calm.”
Pic: TC Television
Pic: TC Television
Mr Calderon said he was not initially on air at the time the masked gunmen burst into the studio, and first became aware that there was an issue when he heard people shouting.
He and two colleagues attempted to hide in a nearby bathroom.
“We were hidden in there for a few minutes,” he said.
“We managed to speak to our relatives and warn the police about what was happening without knowing the exact details of what was going on and who was behind it.”
He said the gunmen discovered where they were hiding and ordered them to come out.
“We saw that they were hooded men, with big military-type guns, pistols, revolvers, there was even a machete,” he said.
“They made threats constantly. My colleagues were touched inappropriately.
“They led us to the studio, which was still live on air. When we arrived, just metres away there were colleagues, people working for the channel who were on the floor, very worried, on their knees, and they took us hostage.”
Hooded man points a gun at Ecuadorian TV presenter Jose Luis Calderon. Pic: TC Television
Read more world news from Sky News:
Peregrine Mission-1 spacecraft has ‘no chance’ of landing on moon
International rugby star jailed for sexual offences
Mr Calderon said at one point a gunman shouted to say that they “had to kill one” of the hostages.
“People were very worried. In my case, I’ve been a journalist for 23 years, including in the field.
“I’ve covered events like this, and I’ve seen tragic events – but I’ve never been part of one.”
Mr Calderon said the gunmen, who he described as a group of “armed kids”, wanted him to communicate a message on the television, but it was not clear what they wanted him to say.
He said when police arrived and began shooting, the group dispersed and were eventually captured by police.
Ecuador’s national police service shared images of people detained by officers following the incident
“We’re grateful that we’re alive. This is completely unheard of, for this sort of thing to happen on TV, for someone to threaten us on our property,” Mr Calderon said.
“The message that they wanted to send was just chaos. Here we are to impose ourselves above the law.”
Mr Calderon said that despite the incident – which he described as a “terrorist attack” – the people of Ecuador should keep “faith in the work” of the armed forces and police.
“There’s fear that another situation like this could happen. We’re hoping for action to be taken to guarantee our safety,” he said.
“My life was at risk, as well as my colleagues. I’ve never seen a situation like this.
“But we should have faith in the work of the armed forces. The police and the armed forces are in a position that allows them to take action against any situation.”
Following the incident, Ecuador’s attorney general’s office said 13 people had been arrested for breaking into the studio and were set to be charged with terrorism offences.
The charge holds a penalty of up to 13 years in prison under Ecuadorian law, if convicted.
Members of military stand guard near the Presidential Palace after the declaration of a state of emergency
Pic: AP
National police commander Cesar Zapata told the TV channel Teleamazonas that officers seized a number of guns and explosives at the scene.
The incident took place a day after Mr Noboa, the son of one of Ecuador’s richest men, who took office in November promising to stem a wave of drug-related violence on the streets and in prisons, declared a state of emergency.
The declaration was made after drug lord, Adolfo Macias – also known as Fito – was reported missing from his cell on Sunday.
The leader of the Los Choneros gang was serving a 34-year sentence in La Regional prison for drug trafficking and murder.
The leader of the powerful Los Choneros gang, Jose Adolfo Macias, alias ‘Fito’. Pic: Ecuadorean Armed Forces
His reported escape occurred on the same day he was scheduled to be transferred to a maximum security facility in the city of Guayaquil.
Ecuador‘s prosecutors have filed charges against two prison guards as part of their investigation into the alleged escape.
Los Choneros is one of the gangs authorities consider responsible for a spike in violence that reached new heights last year with the assassination of the presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.
Interview conducted by Andrew Connell, deputy foreign news editor.
World
Body pulled from mine after police cut off supplies to ‘smoke out’ thousands of illegal miners
A body has been recovered from a South African mine after police cut off basic supplies in an effort to force around 4,000 illegal miners to resurface.
The body has emerged from the closed gold mine in the northwest town of Stilfontein a day after South Africa’s government said it would not help the illegal miners.
Around 20 people have surfaced from the mineshaft this week as police wait nearby to arrest all those appearing from underground.
It comes a day after a cabinet minister said the government was trying to “smoke them [the miners] out”.
The move is part of the police’s “Close the Hole” operation, whereby officers cut off supplies of food, water and other basic necessities to get those who have entered illegally to come out.
Local reports suggest the supply routes were cut off at the mine around two months ago, with relatives of the miners seen in the area as the stand-off continues.
Relatives of miners and community members wait at the mine shaft. Pic: AP
A decomposed body was brought up on Thursday, with pathologists on the scene, police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said.
It comes after South African cabinet minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni told reporters on Wednesday that the government would not send any help to the illegal miners, known in the country as zama zamas, because they are involved in a criminal act.
“We are not sending help to criminals. We are going to smoke them out. They will come out. Criminals are not to be helped; criminals are to be prosecuted. We didn’t send them there,” Ms Ntshavheni said.
An aerial view of a mineshaft. Pic: AP
Senior police and defence officials are expected to visit the area on Friday to “reinforce the government’s commitment to bringing this operation to a safe and lawful conclusion”, according to a media advisory from the police.
In the last few weeks, over 1,000 miners have surfaced at various mines in South Africa’s North West province, where police have cut off supplies.
Many of the miners were reported to be weak, hungry and sickly after going for weeks without basic supplies.
Illegal mining remains common in South Africa’s old gold-mining areas, with miners going into closed shafts to dig for any possible remaining deposits.
Read more world news:
Argentina walks out of COP29 climate summit
How Ukraine is downing Russian drones
Video of Israeli hostage released by terror group
Relatives of miners and community members wait near the mine shaft. Pic: AP
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The illegal miners are often from neighbouring countries, and police say the illegal operations involve larger syndicates that employ the miners.
Their presence in closed mines has also created problems with nearby communities, which complain that the illegal miners commit crimes ranging from robberies to rape.
Illegal mining groups are known to be heavily armed and disputes between rival groups sometimes result in fatal confrontations.
World
Ukrainian frontline commander warns: ‘The world is scared of Russia and losing is not only our problem’
In the courtyard of a farmhouse now home to soldiers of the Ukrainian army’s 47th mechanised brigade, I’m introduced to a weary-looking unit by their commander Captain Oleksandr “Sasha” Shyrshyn.
We are about 10km from the border with Russia, and beyond it lies the Kursk region Ukraine invaded in the summer – and where this battalion is now fighting.
The 47th is a crack fighting assault unit.
They’ve been brought to this area from the fierce battles in the country’s eastern Donbas region to bolster Ukrainian forces already here.
War latest: Russia ready to carry out ‘massive attack’
The captain known by his men as ‘Genius’
In the summer, Ukraine launched an incursion into Russian territory, in Kursk
Captain Shyrshyn explains that among the many shortages the military has to deal with, the lack of infantry is becoming a critical problem.
Sasha is just 30 years old, but he is worldly-wise. He used to run an organisation helping children in the country’s east before donning his uniform and going to war.
He is famous in Ukraine and is regarded as one of the country’s top field commanders, who isn’t afraid to express his views on the war and how it’s being waged.
His nom de guerre is ‘Genius’, a nickname given to him by his men.
Captain Sasha Shyrshyn and Sky News chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay
‘Don’t worry, it’s not a minefield’
Sasha invited me to see one of the American Bradley fighting vehicles his unit uses.
We walk down a muddy lane before he says it’s best to go cross-country.
“We can go that way, don’t worry it’s not a minefield,” he jokes.
He leads us across a muddy field and into a forest where the vehicle is hidden from Russian surveillance drones that try to hunt both American vehicles and commanders.
Sasha shows me a picture of the house they had been staying in only days before – it was now completely destroyed after a missile strike.
Fortunately, neither he, nor any of his men, were there at the time.
“They target commanders,” he says with a smirk.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
‘The world is scared of Russia’
It takes me a moment or two to realise we are only a few steps away from the Bradley, dug in and well hidden beneath the trees.
The disguised American Bradley vehicle hidden in the forest
Sasha tells me the Bradley is the finest vehicle he has ever used.
A vehicle so good, he says, it’s keeping the Ukrainian army going in the face of Russia’s overwhelming numbers of soldiers.
He explains: “Almost all our work on the battlefield is cooperation infantry with the Bradley. So we use it for evacuations, for moving people from one place to another, as well as for fire-covering.
“This vehicle is very safe and has very good characteristics.”
The American Bradley fighting vehicle that Ukrainian soldiers have found vital in their efforts
Billions of dollars in military aid has been given to Ukraine by the United States, and this vehicle is one of the most valuable assets the US has provided.
Ukraine is running low on men to fight, and the weaponry it has is not enough, especially if it can’t fire long-range missiles into Russia itself – which it is currently not allowed to do.
If President-elect Donald Trump cuts the supply of military aid, the Ukrainians will lose – it’s that simple.
US President-elect Donald Trump has been clear he intends to change his nation’s policy on the war in Ukraine. Pic: Reuters
Sasha says: “We have a lack of weapons, we have a lack of artillery, we have a lack of infantry, and as the world doesn’t care about justice, and they don’t want to finish the war by our win, they are afraid of Russia.
“I’m sorry but they’re scared, they’re scared, and it’s not the right way.”
Like pretty much everyone in Ukraine, Sasha is waiting to see what the US election result will mean for his country.
He is sceptical about a deal with Russia.
“Our enemy only understands the language of power. And you cannot finish the war in 24 hours, or during the year without hard decisions, without a fight, so it’s impossible. It’s just talking without results,” he tells me.
Read more from Stuart Ramsay:
How Ukrainian units are downing Russia’s drones
Heartbreaking final moments of girl who tried to flee Gaza
Inside a brutal and deadly Mexican gang war
‘Losing will be not only our problem’
These men expect the fierce battles inside Kursk to intensify in the coming days.
Indeed, alongside the main supply route into Kursk, workers are already building new defensive positions – unfurling miles of razor wire and digging bunkers for the Ukrainian army if it finds itself in retreat.
Barbed wire rolled out in the Sumy region ahead of expected fighting
Tank traps in the Sumy region
Sasha and his men are realistic about support fatigue from the outside world but will keep fighting to the last if they have to.
“I understand this is only our problem, it’s only our issue, and we have to fight this battle, like we have to defend ourselves, it’s our responsibility,” Sasha said.
But he points out everyone should realise just how critical this moment in time is.
“If we look at it widely, we have to understand that us losing will be not only our problem, but it will be for all the world.”
Stuart Ramsay reports from northeastern Ukraine with camera operator Toby Nash, and producers Dominique Van Heerden, Azad Safarov, and Nick Davenport.
A weather warning has been issued for parts of Spain, as the country counts the cost of recent flooding.
The orange warnings are in place for parts of southwestern Spain – the area around Seville down towards Gibraltar.
Up to 8cm (3ins) of rain could fall within 12 hours, but the weekend looks much more settled in the country.
The latest warnings come just two weeks after flash flooding in Valencia and other parts of the country killed more than 200 people.
Malaga saw 14.2cm (5.6ins) of rainfall on Wednesday – Spain’s highest of the day – most of which fell in six hours.
All train services were halted in Malaga. Some flights have now resumed after the initial disruption.
Pic: Jamie Marchant
Emergency services in the province have moved 3,000 people from homes at risk of flooding close to the Guadalhorce River in the west of the city.
Jamie Marchant, 29, from Caerphilly in South Wales travelled to Malaga last Wednesday.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
He told Sky News that “debris” had been left behind by the recent rainfall in the region.
“Everyone is pitching in to clean up and some shops are opening as usual,” he added.
Orange warnings for the Valencia region in eastern Spain expired earlier on Thursday.
Read more from Sky News:
Call for dog-free areas to tackle racism
Argentina walks out of COP29 summit
The adverse weather could lead to total insured losses of more than €4bn (£3.33bn), according to credit rating agency Morningstar DBRS.
Much of the claims are expected to be covered by the Spanish government’s insurance pool, the agency said, but insurance premiums are likely to increase.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports7 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Environment1 year agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway