At least nine people were shot dead while playing billiards at a bar in the beach town of General Villamil Playas, in southwestern Ecuador.
The Public Prosecutor's Office communicated this through its channel X: "Armed individuals entered the premises and shot those present" and announced the opening of an investigation to clarify the facts.
Images posted on social media showed several bloody bodies on the floor between the pool tables.
An AFP journalist present at the scene saw two coffins guarded inside the bar by relatives of the victims and several bullet holes in the billiard tables.
The police station in the area was guarded by members of the special forces, according to the reporter.
The attack also left two people injured, said Police Colonel Jhanon Varela, who did not rule out the possibility of a higher death toll. "Unfortunately, when the police arrived, many of the people involved in the incident had already been taken away by residents or their families," he explained. "There could be more victims."
