Coronavirus: Police In Ecuador Block Runway With Cars To Prevent Plane From Landing

Police cars and hundreds of police officials blockaded the Ecuador airport runway to stop international flights from landing after they were banned.

Emergency service workers fortified the Jose Joaquin de Olmedo International airport so that no planes from Europe land amid the coronavirus outbreak.

According to reports in Daily Mail, Guayaquil city mayor Cynthia Viteri reportedly ordered police to block the tarmac.

A video of the runway shows dozens of security vehicles parked on the runway making it impossible for aircraft to land.

However it was believed that the blockade was undertaken to stop landing of an Iberia Airbus A340 from Madrid and a KLM Boeing 777 from Amsterdam on the country's runway.

Later local media reported the planes landed in Quito with only crew members on-board after reportedly been sent to Ecuador to pick up their citizens in the country.

An investigation into the incident was initiated with the Ministry of Transport and Public Works slamming the Guayaquil City Council for clamping down on air travel.

Ecuador has registered 168 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and three deaths.