Eight women and three men were killed in a gun attack on two bars and a hotel in the Mexican city of Celaya, in the state of Guanajuato.
The attack took place around 22:00 local time (12:00 GMT) in an area where retail drug sales are common, officials said.
In the statement made by the Ministry of Interior, it was stated that “the persons who lost their lives, eight women and three men, of various ages, were injured as a result of being hit by firearms.” An earlier balance referred to ten deaths.
The prosecutor’s office reported that 10 of the injured died at the scene, and one injured woman died while being taken to the hospital. A man stays in the hospital.
The bodies were left between plastic tables and chairs on both sites, one next to the hotel.
When a written message was found at the crime scene, one alleged criminal group claimed responsibility for the attack, while claiming that the attack was revenge against another gang.
“This is a matter of criminal rivalry. This is not a public attack,” Sophia Huett, Guanajuato’s security secretary, told Mexican channel Milenio.
The massacre took place on the outskirts of Celaya, in an industry where authorities had detected criminal activity.
“It’s not exactly a bar in a commercial or tourist area,” Huett added.
Eyewitnesses reported that gunmen entered their workplaces, opened fire, and then tried to set the building on fire by pouring gasoline.
Guanajuato, a thriving industrial center through which an important pipeline network runs and operates a refinery, has become one of Mexico’s most violent states due to a conflict between the Santa Rosa de Lima and Jalisco Nova Geração cartels.
Gangs fight to control drug trafficking and stolen fuel, among other crimes.
Since December 2006, when the government launched a controversial military anti-drug operation, more than 340,000 murders have been recorded in Mexico, many of them attributed by authorities to clashes between criminal organizations.
source: Noticias
