One person dies after car explodes outside Ecuadorian shopping centre in ‘terror attack’

One person has been killed and several others injured after a vehicle exploded outside a shopping centre in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

A ‘loud bang’ was heard at around 6pm local time yesterday, with footage half an hour later showing a parked van with smoke and fire pouring out.

Video filmed by a taxi driver and shared by Metro Ecuador showed onlookers filming the vehicle on fire when it exploded.

Fire officials confirmed one person died in the blast on José Orrantia Avenue and ‘several’ were injured but did not give a specific number.

Samantha Vera, a doctor in the area, was just ‘metres away’ from the inferno.

Vera, 40, told AFP: ‘We ran away out of fear that something else might happen. We’re in shock.’

Claudia Quimi, who owns a salon, said the glass windows shook from the ‘horrifying blast’.

A second vehicle with explosives was found nearby, but it failed to detonate and has been neutralised.

The city’s security has urged people to avoid the area and announced that nearby roads have been closed to allow emergency services through.

It added: ‘For safety reasons, a preventive evacuation of nearby buildings was carried out, and controlled detonations are being executed under specialised protocols.’

Interior Minister John Reimberg said on X: ‘This is not a handcrafted device, it is a professionally made item by criminal groups that want to cause chaos in the country.

‘The National Police is working around the clock to counter the threat and find those responsible for this terrorist act.’

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