Anarchy Continues in Northern Mexico
A SUSPECTED TERROR ATTACK BY ONE OF THE Mexican drug cartels incinerated a packed casino Thursday in Monterrey, Mexico's third-largest city and the seat of the major drug war that continues.
AFP / Getty
The Los Angeles Times reports today:
One woman told Milenio Television that customers scattered in panic after profanity-spewing gunmen burst into the casino and ordered people to get out. In the confusion, many people trapped themselves inside after hiding in bathrooms or fleeing to an upper floor. Emergency exits were blocked, possibly increasing the death toll, officials said.
Monterrey Mayor Fernando Larrazabal said the casino was shut down in May for code violations but later allowed to reopen after lawyers for the casino won a court order.
The woman interviewed by Milenio Television described a frenzied scene. "Four armed persons entered and began to say: 'Everybody leave! Everybody leave!' " she said. The woman said she ran out a door to a parking lot, but many others fled to the second floor of the casino.
The witness said the attackers, wearing white masks, did not fire weapons or hurl grenades, as some early news reports had suggested. "They started to throw gasoline. There was no grenade attack," she said.
The Associated Press posted this raw video from the fire scene:
The most recent count of fatalities stands at 52.
Mexican President Phillipe Calderone's response to the brutality was swift. He immediately proclaimed a 3-day period of mourning.
* * * * * * *
Recent Comments