10 killed in mass shooting in rural Ecuador

QUITO: At least 10 people were killed early on Sunday in a mass shooting in a rural area of Ecuador that is under a state of emergency, police said.

One of the fatalities in the southwest province of El Oro was a totally dismembered body found in a bag, the police commander in the area, Pablo Fajardo, told reporters.

The incident was the latest in a spate of recent bloodshed, much of it linked to drug gang warfare, in a country once seen as a beacon of stability in South America.

Ecuador has become one of the world´s most violent nations and a major drug trafficking hub in recent years.

In the latest attack, people who had rented a rural estate were attacked as they slept before dawn Sunday, said Fajardo. Some of the bodies were found in the residence and others by a nearby road.