AT least eight people have been killed and three others injured after gunmen opened fire inside a nightclub in Ecuador.

Armed thugs on motorbikes arrived after midnight and began shooting people drinking outside the nightclub in Santa Lucia.

Law enforcement arrived on the scene following an emergency call.

They found "several people wounded and seven bodies," police colonel Javier Chango said.

Among the dead was the nightclub owner Jorge Urquizo, who was the brother of Santa Lucia's mayor.

Police found 800 cartridge cases at the scene.

After the attack, the gunmen fled along an "unknown route," Chango said.

The local police picked up a man driving a truck who was carrying a revolver, but were not able to determine whether he was involved in the attack.

Authorities said they have ye

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