Soldiers in Ecuador have rescued President Rafael Correa from a police hospital, appearing to end a day of violent unrest across the country.
Mr Correa was rescued from after soldiers fired on dissident police.
Moments after being freed the president appeared on the balcony of Quito's presidential palace in Quito and spoke to thousands of cheering supporters.
He thanked his supporters and said he had just lived through the saddest day of his government.
The violence came after dark on a day of unrest in Ecuador that the president and his supporters said amounted to an an attempted coup.
Mr Correa had been holed up in the police hospital, where he was treated after being hit by tear gas in a confrontation
Hundreds of police, angry over a law that would cut their benefits, appeared to have prevented him from leaving the clinic.
Under cover of darkness Mr Correa was reportedly smuggeld out of the hospital in a wheelchair while a gunbattle between troops and police was under way.
Ecuador army rescues President Rafael Correa
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