According to reports published in the local press, 20 armed individuals perpetrated the murders in different homes on Thursday afternoon, while videos published on social media show desperate screams of people who witnessed the event.

The National Police said that some of the victims had criminal records for robbery, drug trafficking and possession of weapons.

According to authorities, the crime is part of a conflict for control of the area between two factions of the criminal gang Los Tiguerones.

The mayor of Guayaquil, Aquiles Alvarez stated in his X account that “the situation in Nueva Prosperina is barbaric (…) Men armed with rifles and nine mm pistols, at least 20 hitmen, went through the streets executing in cold blood”.

Alvarez warned that so far this year, 180 violent deaths have taken place in that area, “a number that is only growing and that shows that the situation is not under control”.

Thursday’s massacre is considered in local media the worst registered in Guayaquil in years, without taking into account the events that have occurred in prisons.

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