Ecuador TV studio taken over live on air by masked people brandishing guns

A live broadcast by Ecuadorean television station TC was interrupted on Tuesday by armed people, with gunshots and yelling heard on a live feed, as President Daniel Noboa issued a decree declaring 22 gangs as terrorist organizations.

The people, wearing balaclavas and mostly dressed in black, were seen wielding large guns and accosting huddled staffers before the feed eventually cut out.

Some of the invaders gestured at the camera and someone could be heard yelling "no police."

The national police said on social media it was evacuating the public channel's studio in Guayaquil, was verifying the condition of staff there and "reestablishing order".

Police in Guayaquil confirmed 13 arrests, and police social media posts showed photos of young men lying on the floor with their hands zip-tied behind their backs.

TC, which broadcasts nationally, shares a site with another public broadcaster, Gamavision, and several radio stations.

The attackers entered through reception at Gamavision, assaulting staff there and leaving dynamite behind, TC news coordinator and reporter Leonardo Flores Moreno told Reuters in a message.

"We were in a meeting and they alerted us and we were able to hide," said Flores, who was not on the sound stage during the takeover, but said two people at TC had been injured.

"We don't know what is happening, people are nervous, there are many colleagues from Gama and TC who are hiding," Flores said, adding he could hear helicopters overhead.

The incident followed the kidnappings of at least seven police officers and a series of explosions, a day after Noboa declared a state of emergency.

Noboa, son of one of the country's richest men, took office in November promising to stem a wave of drug trade-related