Eight people killed by gunmen near Mexico City

Eight people killed by gunmen near Mexico City

2011-02-15 03:31:19 GMT+7 (ICT)

MEXICO CITY (BNO NEWS) -- Eight people on Monday were killed by unidentified gunmen linked to drug trafficking organizations near Mexico City, El Sol de Mexico newspaper reported.

In two separate drug-related incidents, eight people, including two women, were killed in the first hours of Monday in Nezahualcoyotl municipality in Mexico State, near Mexico City.

Seven individuals were killed at about 2:00 a.m. local time as a group of gunmen fired at a group of eight people in Lazaro Cardenas Street. The armed men were travelling on two vans.

The victims, all aged between 16 and 25 years old, tried to flee but were shot dead within 50 meters. Six men and one woman were killed by 14 bullets. A 24-year-old man survived and was transported to a local hospital.

A few blocks away, another woman was killed in the Loma Bonita neighborhood. Authorities said that the two cases may be related. This was the second drug-related shooting in Netzahualcoyotl this year.

Local residents told police officers that in that area drug trafficking is a common practice. On January 16, eight people were killed by unknown gunmen in the Benito Juarez neighborhood.

Drug-related violence has increased in recent times in Nezahualcoyotl and Chimalhuacan municipalities, two of the poorer areas surrounding Mexico City. The January attack was considered the most violent in Nezahualcoyotl's history.

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