Tragic Bus Massacre in Ecuador: Family of Five Fatally Targeted
Five family members were killed on Thursday night aboard an interprovincial bus in Ecuador as they traveled northward, according to police sources cited by the Ecuadorian digital outlet Primicias on Friday. Among the victims were four adults, one of whom was Venezuelan, and a five-year-old child.
Hours later, the Police announced the capture of two suspected perpetrators. Early indications point to a feud between criminal gangs. Authorities also reported that one of the detainees, who has prior narcotics offenses, was found with a firearm, a magazine, and 50 live rounds.
The commander of the Los Ríos subzone, William Calle, explained that the victims appeared to belong to a criminal organization based in Puebloviejo and were traveling toward the border to leave the country. Calle stressed that this was not a random road robbery but a targeted act.
The incident, being investigated as a directed killing or sicariato, occurred at 7:30 p.m. local time (12:30 a.m. GMT on Friday) when two armed men in pickup trucks intercepted the bus in the tropical Los Ríos province. To halt the journey, the attackers opened fire, and one bullet struck the driver, causing him to lose control of the vehicle. Four passengers died at their seats, and the young child was urgently transported to a hospital, where he died hours later.
Diego Villamarín, the district police chief where the crime took place, said investigators ruled out a robbery, noting that the assailants boarded the bus, identified their victims first, and then opened fire. A bus company employee was injured in the attack. This incident comes amid repeated complaints from the transport federation about road insecurity in the country.
Representatives from the transportation sector questioned what they called government inaction this week as they pulled out of ongoing talks with national authorities. The National Federation of Public Passenger Transport (Fenacotip) recently denounced an unacceptable level of insecurity due to daily highway robberies, which leave drivers fearing for their lives because of attacks by organized crime groups.
The Ecuadorian government has faced several years of rising violence, which intensified early in 2024. President Daniel Noboa elevated the fight against organized crime to the status of an internal armed conflict, designating criminal groups as terrorist and non-state belligerents.