‘Bodies’ left outside a Guayaquil court office turned out to be a university student art project

What appeared to be human bodies wrapped in garbage bags outside a Guayaquil judicial center Friday turned out to be an art project by Casa Grande University students. The morning discovery in the center’s parking lot prompted an evacuation of the Albán Borja office center and a spate of news and social media reports about the grisly scene.

One of the art project “bodies” that shut down a judicial center in Guayaquil on Friday.

The suspected bodies each had a red bow attached at the chest with a card reading “Feliz Navidad.”

When a police bomb squad examined the bags they found them filled with paper, not bodies.

According to a police major who coordinated operations at the scene, “extraordinary measures” were taken to protect the public as a result of the discovery. “On Tuesday, 10 explosive devices were found in a judge’s car in the same parking lot so we were taking all precautions,” he said. He added that bombs have been found with bodies in three previous investigations in the Guayaquil area.

Three university students were taken into custody for questioning following the police investigation.

At noon, the Casa Grande University administration issued a statement that the body hoax was part of an art project entitled Presente. “This was one of several public art displays expressing commentary on recent events in the country,” the statement said, adding that other displays included fire extinguishers hung in trees following recent forest fires.

The university said that despite the expression of “artist irony,” the body bag display was in poor taste and “exceeded acceptable standards of artistic expression.”

Although police say charges will probably not be filed against the students, they condemned the action for causing “a major disruption.” They said most of Thursday’s court appearances at the Albán Borja facility were cancelled and that more than 20 police officers responded to the hoax.

Before it was discovered as a hoax, two international news wire services sent out photos of the “bodies.”