With shotguns, handguns, and homemade bombs, armed militia invaded a television studio in Ecuador during a live broadcast after the president of that nation issued an order designating 22 gangs as terrorist organisations.

Thirteen gunmen who seized Guayaquil’s TC television station during a live broadcast on Tuesday were apprehended by police. The video, which was aired to thousands of homes, showed the personnel being forced to the ground according to Independant.

After returning to air for its evening newscast, the channel said that two staff members had been hurt in the incident.

A shotgun was held to the scared host’s head, and he could be seen praying to the camera while other attackers displayed dynamite sticks and explosives to the audience. There was a background of what sounded like gunfire, and the group yelled that they had bombs.

The newspaper El Universo said reporters on the interrupted El noticiero news programme messaged groups begging for help. One read: “They want to kill the lot of us. Help us.” The channel broadcast live for at least 15 minutes before the signal was cut off. During the transmission, someone was heard yelling: “Don’t shoot!”

The chief of news at TC Television, Alina Manrique, reported that she was in the control room, which is located across from the studio when the masked guys entered the structure. Manrique claimed that one of the men ordered her to get on the ground while pointing a gun at her head.

“I am still in shock,” Manrique said in a phone interview. “Everything has collapsed …. All I know is that it’s time to leave this country and go very far away.”