The Interior Minister of Ecuador has said police cannot guarantee security in the town of Puyo, after clashes in which a police station was attacked and one protester died.
The minister, Patricio Carrillo, said 18 officers were still missing.
The violence broke out on the ninth day of national protests against government economic and social policies.
The protesters’ list of demands includes reducing the cost of fuel and price caps on agricultural goods.
The protests have been organised by a powerful indigenous organisation, the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie).
Demonstrations have been taking place all over the country.
There were also riots in the capital, Quito, as an estimated 10,000 indigenous people took to the city streets to oppose President Guillermo Lasso’s conservative government.
The nationwide demonstrations began earlier this month with a series of roadblocks as protesters used piles of burning tyres, trees and mounds of earth to cut off access to Quito.
Credit: BBC