WATCH: Gunmen Storm TV Studio During Live Broadcast

The wave of violence rocking Ecuador found its way to television screens across the country on Tuesday as armed men stormed a public television channel and terrorized those on set live on air for 15 minutes before the feed cut out.

The gunmen broke onto the set of TC Television network in the coastal city of Guayaquil and claimed that they had “bombs,” reported the Associated Press.

“Noises similar to gunshots could be heard. Ecuador has been rocked by a series of attacks including explosions and the abduction of several police officers after the government imposed a state of emergency in the wake of the apparent escape of a powerful gang leader from prison,” added the AP.

Ecuador’s new president, Daniel Noboa, declared a state of emergency in the country on Monday after one of the country’s most dangerous gang leaders escaped from prison. Heavily armed criminal groups have since unleashed a wave of terror in the country, including multiple attacks on prisons and the TV station.

El Universo, a local paper, reported that reporters and camera crew in the TV station quickly took to social media with pleas for help as the gunmen stormed the building. “They want to kill the lot of us. Help us,” one message read.

The Guardian added that the attackers had “pistols, machine guns and sticks of dynamite” and they interrupted a news program called El noticiero. The show was live “on air when its studio was overrun by more than 20 men with their faces covered,” the report added, noting:

The channel broadcast live for at least 15 minutes before the signal was cut off. While the transmission was on, the men could be seen on camera while some employees laid down on the floor and someone was heard yelling: “Don’t shoot!”

Whether or not anyone was hurt during the attack on the TV station remains unknown.

Watch above.