Most of Canada to receive emergency alert test today
The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.
A Canadian man living in Ecuador for the last 18 years said he and his family feel highly uncertain and insecure as gang violence in the country escalates.
"We really don't know what the next steps are going to look like from the government's end," Jeff Karram told CTV National News.
He said people in the country are living under an 11 p.m. curfew, shops are closed, classes are cancelled and most people are staying home.
"Everybody in our company is doing home office right now. If there is anybody that has to move around, they are the exception, everybody else is staying at home," Karram said.
In Guayaquil on Tuesday, a TV station was taken over by a group of armed men during a live afternoon newscast. The group, wielding explosives and guns, threatened and assaulted employees of the TC Television network's station for 15 minutes on air.
No one was killed and 13 suspects were arrested, but the violent broadcast stunned much of the region and elicited a wide-ranging government response.
Those taken hostage described moments of terror — one cameraman was shot in the leg, another's arm was broken.
The TV station is 20 minutes from Karram's home.
"With everything that was going on yesterday (Tuesday) in the streets, because there were people unfortunately shot in the streets, there was one gentleman who just an odd bullet unfortunately hit him and killed him," Karram said. "He was shot no more than three minutes from where I work and about 10 minutes from where I live."
More than 2,300 Canadians are registered in Ecuador. Eighteen of them have reached out to Global Affairs Canada in recent days with questions, including around issues related to travel.
Most of Ecuador's population is hiding indoors as gang violence over the control of the drug trade exploded in the South American country. Shootouts, kidnappings and killings continue as police and armed forces roam the streets, their sights set on drug cartels and gang members after Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa declared his country was now at war.
Officials said they have arrested nearly 330 people for alleged acts of terrorism as of Wednesday afternoon, displaying a forceful response aimed at reassuring the country of 18 million people.
In the last five years, gangs vying for control of the drug trade have taken over nearly one fourth of the country's prisons.
Noboa vowed to crack down after his election in November. On Monday he declared a state of emergency after the prison break of drug kingpin Adolfo Macias, also known as Fito. Gangs have taken prison guards and police officers hostage and videos of executions have circulated online.
Karram, originally from Toronto, said he and his wife have discussed moving out of the country altogether as crime worsened over the past two years. However, he said it isn't that simple for him.
"You're looking at somebody like me who is living in Ecuador and you say 'Why isn't that person getting out of there?' But the reality is I've got my work here … all my wife's family is here," he said, adding Ecuador used to be a peaceful place to live.
"Ecuador is such an amazing place, but at the end of the day, security is everything."
Karram said he and his family will leave if the violence turns into a full-blown war, however, "I'm just praying that it doesn't get to that."
With files from The Associated Press
The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.
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