PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Q. Roo — The death toll in a bar shooting in Playa del Carmen stands at seven after the death of a seriously wounded victim in the hospital, official sources reported.
The attorney general’s office of the state of Quintana Roo announced that six people lost their lives at the scene and a seventh person was hospitalized. Authorities denied that there are tourists among the victims of this attack, which took place in a residential neighborhood of this spa resort.
The number of wounded has not been reported. Two arrests reportedly have been made.
Two men entered the Las Virginias bar at around 8:00 pm local time on Sunday and opened fire with high-caliber weapons, of which several bursts were heard. They then fled the scene in a vehicle.
The event recalls the shooting on January 16, 2017, at the popular Blue Parrot nightclub, which left six dead and fifteen wounded in Playa del Carmen during an electronic music festival, due to a dispute between drug traffickers over the sale of drugs.
Unlike the Blue Parrot, located in the hotel and restaurant area, the Las Virginias establishment is located on the outskirts of the city and was frequented mostly by residents of the town.
Since 2017, violence has spread to a large part of the state of Quintana Roo, which receives a significant number of tourists and foreign currency. The violence is attributed to the alleged dispute between the Jalisco Nueva Generacion Cartel and Los Zetas Cartel and other criminal groups to control the region.
Source: EFE news agency via El Universal
