Ecuador bloodbath as 12 civilians are gunned down in a bar and beauty queen is shot dead in her car amid escalating drug war violence
Armed attackers killed at least 14 civilians, including a 12-year-old boy, in two separate attacks on Sunday in coastal areas of the South American nation.
The attackers, travelling in two pickup trucks, shot at civilians with pistols and rifles, in the latest murder spree to hit the state which is being ravaged by drug cartel violence.
An initial attack, in the southwestern town of El Empalme, saw 12 dead and three injured, the town's police chief Major Oscar Valencia said.
The same attackers later fired at a second group, killing two more people as they shot indiscriminately.
'They opened fire on everyone,' Valencia said
Dead bodies were shockingly left strewn in a covered entrance of a liquor store, while dozens of relatives sat weeping on the sidewalk across the street.
Investigators found at least 40 pieces of ballistic evidence at the scene.
The deadly attacks come just a day after a model and former beauty queen was shot dead in an ambush in Manta, a port city on Ecuador's central coast.
Esther Gabriela Murillo Cruz, who won three local beauty competitions, becoming Queen of the Manabi province in 2018, was driving in her car with her partner and one-year old daughter when two armed men on a motorbike fatally attacked her.
The pillion passenger pulled out a gun before shooting at the vehicle at 3am on Saturday.
The 25-year-old was taken to a local hospital with gunshot wounds to her vital organs, before being declared dead.
Her 30-year-old partner was injured and taken to hospital, while the baby's condition is unconfirmed.
Authorities have not confirmed whether Murillo was the attackers' intended target and an investigation is underway to determine the motive.
Meanwhile, just a week ago, nine people were murdered while playing pool in the General Villamil tourist resort.
Gunmen were chasing two men on a motorcycle in the town of Playas before one tried to hide in a pool hall.
The gunmen then burst in and fired indiscriminately.
Ecuador had managed to remain relatively peaceful for decades, despite bordering the notorious cocaine hotspots of Colombia and Peru, but violence has markedly increased in recent years.
Transnational cartels which use the nation's ports to ship drugs to the US and Europe have been blamed for the rise in murders, as they battle to gain control of the lucrative routes.
Up to 73 per cent of nationwide cocaine production passes through Ecuador, while the country seized 294 tons of drugs last year, a rise of 221 from the previous year.
Security was viewed as a key issue in the presidential election which took place earlier this year, with Daniel Noboa winning re-election.
President Noboa has vowed to crack down on the criminal gangs tearing the nation apart.
Last year he declared war on organized crime but it has failed to stem high murder rates, with 4,051 people killed in the first five months of 2025.
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