Government extends state of siege after police revolt in Ecuador

Ecuadorean government extends state of emergency

QUITO, Ecuador — Ecuador has extended until Friday the state of siege it declared during a police revolt over planned benefit cuts in which mutinous officers roughed up President Rafael Correa and five people were killed.

The government also has sent soldiers to replace police who had been guarding Congress. Lawmakers say they, too, were physically attacked during Thursday’s insurrection by police, some wearing ski masks.

Following the altercation, Correa was trapped in a hospital for 10 hours before soldiers freed him in a firefight. Prosecutors visited the hospital Tuesday for a re-enactment of the confrontation.

Three police colonels are under criminal investigation in the mutiny and an unspecified number of officers have been reassigned.