HAVANA, January 23. /TASS/. An Ecuadorian court has sanctioned the arrest of 67 people who attacked a hospital in the western province of Guayas, the prosecutor’s office said

"The judge upheld the prosecutor’s motion to place 67 offenders in prison in Guayaquil (the administrative center of the province of Guayas - TASS)," it said.

According to the prosecutor’s office, 68 people attacked the hospital in Yaguachi in an attempt to free a gang member who had been injured in an earlier shootout. The gangster died while in the hospital. Upon detaining the suspects, Ecuadorian police confiscated firearms and illegal drugs.

Ecuador's security crisis escalated on January 7 following the prison escape of Los Choneros drug gang leader Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, known by his alias, "Fito." The Ecuadorian armed forces and police have detained more than 2,000 people since the beginning of the unrest sparked by prison riots that spread across Ecuador’s correctional facilities after Fito’s escape. Law enforcement personnel seized nearly 500 firearms, approximately an equal number of bombs, and over five tons of narcotic substances. On January 8, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa declared a state of public emergency for 60 days and imposed a curfew.