On August 17th local time, an attack occurred at a billiards hall in the province of Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas in central Ecuador, resulting in 7 deaths and multiple injuries.
The Ecuadorian National Police said that a group of masked men armed with weapons attacked the billiards hall, and the police are investigating the incident.
According to the data from the Ministry of the Interior of Ecuador, 4,619 homicide cases occurred in the country from January to June this year, which is the most violent year on record. The authorities attributed this situation to disputes between organized crime gangs. (CGTN Deng Xuemei)