Mexico: Attack on a hotel and two bars in Celaya leaves at least 11 dead

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In Celaya, Guanajuato, an armed commando attacked a hotel and two adjoining bars on Monday night, leaving at least 11 people dead and one seriously injured.

The armed and hooded men carried out the attacks on these three establishments simultaneously and in a matter of minutes.

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With this multihomicide, Celaya closes a tragic Monday that leaves at least 14 people dead.

The multiple homicide occurred shortly after 10:00 at night in the Lindavista neighborhood. Neighbors reported that the group of armed men arrived in trucks and spread out strategically. Some arrived at a bar, others at another bar located just opposite, and others at the Gala hotel.

The Gala hotel, with entrances on Tecnológico avenue and also behind it, on Azalea street, was the place where the assassins carried out a lightning attack. In less than a minute, the victims were riddled with bullets.

Then, the criminals poured gasoline that they carried in drums and set fire to the establishments, burning the premises and the people they had murdered.

WITNESSES REPORTED HEARING AT LEAST 50 SHOTS

The Municipal Police reported that inside the premises there were 7 women and 3 men deceased.

There were only two survivors of the attack at the beginning, a man and a woman, who were taken seriously injured to a local hospital. However, the woman’s death was later reported, adding to the other seven.

The police reported having found several cardboards alluding to a criminal group at the scene of the massacre.

With the possible affiliation of the attackers, the authorities began a search operation in conjunction with elements of the National Guard, the Ministry of National Defense and the State Public Security Forces, but so far no detainee has been reported.

The Secretariat of Citizen Security said that the Attorney General of the State of Guanajuato (FGEG) is already carrying out the first corresponding investigations and will be the one to provide more information in the following hours.

VIOLENCE IN GUANAJUATO

So far this year, a total of 993 intentional homicides have been registered in Guanajuato, according to data from the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System.

On Monday morning, the Secretary of Security also pointed out that Michoacán, Guanajuato, Edomex, Baja California, Jalisco and Sonora account for 49 percent of the country’s intentional homicides.