Armed attack on rally drivers leaves at least 10 dead in Mexico

First modification: 05/21/2023 – 21:34Last modification: 05/21/2023 – 21:32

The massacre occurred in the afternoon when the motorists, who were participating in an adventure race, were parked on the side of a highway and a group of men got out of a truck and opened fire.

The attack “left nine injured and 10 dead,” the Ensenada government said in a statement.

“I am in permanent communication with the State Attorney General’s Office, as well as with the federal corporations of the three levels of government to provide all the necessary information,” said the mayor of Ensenada, Armando Ayala, in a statement.

Videos posted on social media show the bodies of some victims next to SUVs on a dusty sidewalk.

The mayor added that surveillance in the area was increased.

The Baja California state prosecutor’s office —to which Ensenada belongs and hard hit by drug trafficking violence— announced the formation of a “special investigation group” to identify the murderers and determine the motives for the massacre, the statement said.

Some injured received emergency care from local Red Cross paramedics, who later transferred them to hospitals in the urban center of Ensenada, a municipality of some 440,000 inhabitants.

Competition headquarters

Due to its desert terrain, Baja California is the venue for off-road vehicle races in which drivers from all over the world participate.

One of the most famous races is the so-called “Baja 1000”, in which cars, motorcycles and ATVs of this type compete.

Baja California is also one of the states with the most intentional homicides in Mexico, most of which are attributed by the government to wars between organized crime gangs. Between January and April, 721 murders were registered there, according to official data.

That and five other states concentrate 47.3% of the total homicides registered in the country in the same period (9,912).

Shootings have also been reported at other sporting events in Mexico.

On May 15, six people died, including three minors, during an armed attack against attendees of a soccer match organized by a family in the city of Pachuca, in the central state of Hidalgo.

Mexico is involved in a spiral of violence that has left almost 400,000 dead and tens of thousands disappeared since 2006, when the government launched a controversial anti-drug offensive with the support of the United States and the participation of the Mexican armed forces.

AFP