The people suspected of being involved in the car bomb explosion in Quito are being detained as a preventive measure, the Ecuadorian prosecutor’s office reports CNN in

(CNN Spanish) –– Ten people allegedly involved in the explosion of two vehicles in Quito, Ecuador, this week will remain in preventive detention, the country’s attorney general’s office reported in a statement on Friday.

The suspects are accused of terrorism for the incidents and face prison sentences of between 10 and 13 years if found guilty, prosecutors said in a statement.

CNN is trying to find out if they have legal representation and how they are responding to the allegations.

Six of those arrested must answer for the explosion of one of the vehicles this Wednesday evening in Robles and Ulpiano Páez streets, in the La Mariscal sector, in the north of Quito.

According to prosecutors, this group bought fuel near the explosion site, went to the explosion site and “sprayed the gasoline on a car and a motorcycle and then set them on fire.”

“After committing the attack, the prosecutor said, those involved fled in the blue vehicle in which they were traveling when they were arrested following a chase,” the statement said.

Second explosion

The other four suspects in the explosions were arrested after they allegedly caused the detonation of a truck outside a building at Avenue de Octubre and Wilson Street in northern Quito early Thursday morning, another statement from the prosecutor’s office said.

Among the evidence presented by the prosecution, a sequence of images from a surveillance camera from the building where the attack was committed stands out, showing two of the defendants leaving the van with explosives at the scene of the explosion, the statement said.

This Thursday, the Ecuadorian government described the explosions of the two cars in Quito as “terrorist attacks”, one of which occurred outside a building currently used by the Service for the Care of Persons Deprived of Liberty (SNAI), according to a statement from the Ministry of the Interior.

According to the government, the explosions were planned by “organized criminal groups” whose aim was to “scare” the SNAI.

Ana María Cañizares contributed to this report.