A gang war among drug dealers terrifies a vacation region in Mexico.
Cancun – A gunfight between rival gangs on a beach near Cancun terrified tourists in the popular Mexican holiday region. The public prosecutor announced on Thursday (local time) that two suspected drug dealers were killed in the armed conflict. During the exchange of fire, panic broke out among the mostly foreign bathers.
“There was a confrontation between members of rival groups of drug traffickers on a beach in Bahía Petempich, Puerto Morelos,” the Quintana Roo State Attorney General said on Twitter. Two people involved were killed. However, no tourist was seriously injured or kidnapped, the public prosecutor further emphasized.
Gang war in Mexico: bathers took cover in a shootout
Bathers took cover when the shots were fired, reported Tourist: inside, who were near the beach. “The guests told me that they were playing volleyball on the beach when the gunman approached and fired shots,” wrote US resident Mike Sington on Twitter. “Everyone ran away from the beach and the pools. The staff pushed us into hidden rooms behind the kitchens. “
“People hug and cry,” said Sington, who claims to be a guest at the Hyatt Ziva Riviera Cancun Resort. Videos on the online networks also showed dozens of tourists – some of them only in swimwear – who sought protection with the staff in a hotel lobby.
Two tourists in Mexico killed in October
The shooting is likely to be another blow to tourism on Mexico’s Caribbean coast, famous for its white beaches and turquoise waters. The Corona crisis has caused the number of holidaymakers to collapse anyway, and a German and Indian tourist were only killed in a shootout between suspected drug criminals in Tulum, a good hundred kilometers south of Cancún, in October. Two men from Germany and one from the Netherlands were also injured.
More than 300,000 violent deaths have been recorded in the country since the government of Mexico City launched a controversial military anti-drug operation in December 2006. In the past year alone, the authorities recorded more than 36,000 murders. (ktho / AFP)
List of rubric lists: © Karim Torres / dpa
