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🇪🇨 Ecuador /Culture & Society

Explosive Alert at Quito University Dismissed as False Alarm; Young Man Allegedly Threatened Into Making Call

From El Comercio · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Under investigation
  • Ecuadorian police found no explosive or threat at the Catholic University of Quito and classified the incident as a false alarm.
  • The alert led to the evacuation of students and the temporary closure of 12 de Octubre Avenue.
  • Police detained a young man who allegedly made the emergency call under threats from two people and kept his identity confidential.

An explosive alert that evacuated students from Quito’s Catholic University and shut nearby 12 de Octubre Avenue turned out to be a false alarm, police said.

Colonel Patricio Almendariz said officers found no explosive and no threat at the site. Police detained a young man who allegedly called ECU 911 to report the bomb warning and planned to place him before the relevant authorities to determine his legal status.

There is no kind of threat, because no kind of explosive has been found.

— Patricio AlmendarizThe police colonel confirmed the result of the inspection at the university.

According to the young man’s account, two people wearing suits threatened him and made him place the call. Police did not say whether he was a university student and withheld his identity, citing the presumption of innocence.

At the moment, we have detained the person who made the call until we present him to the competent authorities and establish his legal status.

— Patricio AlmendarizHe described the status of the young man who made the ECU 911 call.

The emergency response involved the Quito Fire Department, 10 officers, 30 police personnel, 30 patrol cars and 15 motorcycles. Authorities cordoned off the area around the university while they carried out inspections.

Police described the incident as a false alarm after finding no explosive. Officials also highlighted the participation of several public agencies in handling the emergency.

For legal reasons, I cannot give you his name, because the presumption of innocence still prevails.

— Patricio AlmendarizHe explained why authorities were withholding the detainee’s identity.
About this summary

Originally published by El Comercio in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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