Nine shot dead at pool bar in Ecuador

VILLAMIL, July 20 (AFP): At least nine people were shot dead Saturday while playing pool in a tourist city in southwestern Ecuador, the country's prosecutor's office said.

A group of armed men opened fire on several people at a bar in a working-class neighborhood of General Villamil Playas, a coastal city in the southern Guayas province and destination for local tourists.

The Ecuadorian prosecutor's office said on X that "armed individuals entered the establishment and shot at those present."

Viral images on social media showed at least nine bloodied bodies lying on the floor around several pool tables. Local media reports said the attackers were armed with automatic rifles.

At the bar where the massacre occurred, relatives held two coffins Saturday night. Bullet holes were visible on the pool tables, according to images captured by an AFP reporter.

Police Colonel Jhanon Varela told media that two people were injured in the attack and treated at a local hospital.