Shots fired into Mexican swimming pool kill at least seven

At least seven people have been shot dead at a swimming pool in Mexico. The victims are a seven-year-old child, three women and three men, according to the city of Cortazar in the state of Guanajuato. Another person was seriously injured.

According to the leisure facility operator, the perpetrators appeared on Saturday afternoon (local time), opened fire and took the surveillance cameras and accompanying monitor with them before fleeing.

The background was initially unclear. In a video circulated in the Mexican media, a man reported shortly after the crime that about 20 killers with high-powered firearms were in the pool.

The central Mexican state of Guanajuato is one of the regions of the country where the violence that has been raging in Mexico for years has reached particularly bad proportions. Last year there were 31,936 homicides per approximately 126 million inhabitants in the North American country – and that’s just the official figure.

Numerous drug cartels and other criminal groups vie for control of areas of influence and smuggling routes. They are often associated with corrupt politicians and security forces that have been waging the so-called war on drugs since 2006. Most murders are never solved. (sda/dpa)