The matter has been confirmed by the country’s president, Guillermo Lasso.
Presidential candidate in Ecuador Fernando Villavicencio, 59, has been assassinated at a campaign event, according to local media. Villavicencio, who worked as a journalist, was shot after six in the evening local time in a school building north of the capital Quito.
The matter has been confirmed by the country’s president Guillermo Lasso. He vowed that the crime would not go unpunished.
The online newspaper Minuto & Medio has published a video on Twitter of the chaos at the scene.
President Lasso said that he would organize an emergency meeting with the country’s highest security authorities due to the assassination.
Villavicencio was one of eight presidential candidates. Presidential elections will be held in the country on August 20.
The news is updated.
Sources: Reuters, AP, AFP