Six people accused of killing Ecuadorian presidential candidate killed in prison

Fernando Villavicencio was shot and killed at a campaign event in Quito on August 9. Photo: REUTERS

Six people accused of killing anti- Ecuadorian presidential candidate was killed in prison on Friday.

Suspects involved in the August attack on Fernando Villavicencio were killed in prison in Guayas province, it was reported Ecuador's prison agency SNAI.

Ecuador's government has condemned the killings, which occurred just a week before a crucial runoff election.

President Guillermo Lasso promised «no complicity, no cover-up» in efforts to get to the bottom of the crime in a post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

“The truth will come out here,” he said.

Mr Lasso announced he was canceling his visit to Seoul and returning from the trip to New York to deal with the incident.

A woman is injured in an attack on Fernando Villavicencio. Photo: GETTY IMAGES

The killings took place at the Litoral prison in Guayaquil, the South American country's largest city.

The SNI said in a statement that all six men were killed. Citizens of Colombia. No further details were released about the killings.

The government said authorities were determined to identify those behind Mr. Villavicencio's killing.

Mr. Lasso had previously suggested that Mr. Villavicencio was the victim of a gang murder.

Mr. Villavicencio, a prominent journalist, was shot dead less than two weeks before the first round of the general election.

p>Police arrested six Colombians on the day of the murder. A seventh suspect, also Colombian, was shot and killed by police, and other suspects were later arrested.

The United States agreed to send FBI agents to assist Quito officials in the investigation.

Business heir Daniel Noboa, who narrowly leading in some polls ahead of the second round, said in a social media post that the government must provide details of what happened in prison and that peace must be restored to the country.

His The main rival for the presidency is Luisa Gonzalez, a protégé of former leftist President Rafael Correa. She said the rise in crime was unprecedented and that voters should not let «terror» stop them from voting for change.