Six people, including a two-year-old girl, have been killed in a shooting at a popular tourist beach in Ecuador. The attack occurred on Sunday morning in Puerto Lopez, a coastal town in Manabi province known for whale watching.
Police commander Colonel William Acurio confirmed that armed men opened fire in a public area around 9am, leaving three others injured. The gunmen fled the scene before authorities arrived, and no arrests have been made.
Investigators believe the shooting stemmed from a dispute between organised crime groups. Ecuador has seen a surge in gang violence linked to Mexican and Colombian cartels, as it sits between the world's top cocaine exporters, Colombia and Peru.
The attack is part of a wave of violence that has swept the region. At least nine people have been killed in separate incidents over the weekend. The country is on track to end the year with a record homicide rate of 52 per 100,000 residents, according to the Geneva-based Organised Crime Observatory.
