Mexico game ditched after gunfire

21 August 2011 Last updated at 07:43 GMT Saturday's match was abandoned near the end of the first half A first division football match in Mexico was abandoned because of a gun battle just outside the stadium.

Players from Santos Laguna and Monarcas Morelia ran to the dressing rooms and fans dived for cover as shots rang out in the northern city of Torreon.

The players were in the 40th minute of their scoreless match on Saturday when pandemonium broke out.

Gunmen had opened fire on members of the security forces at a checkpoint, injuring one policeman.

About 20,000 fans were watching the game at the TSM, home of Santos, but no-one was hurt inside the stadium.

The authorities said the shooting began after three vehicles with armed men failed to stop.

Santos chairman Alejandro Irarragorri, accompanied by his goalkeeper, went on to the pitch to make an announcement.

He told the crowd: "In the Santos club, we feel bad for the time in which we are living. It is evident that the game will be suspended.

"You can be assured that we will try to control these situations. We are sorry for Morelia, the referees and those who are visiting us from elsewhere."

Drug-related violence in northern Mexico has claimed thousands of lives in the past few years but it is not clear if this shooting was linked to organised crime.

More than 35,000 Mexicans have been killed in drug-related violence since President Felipe Calderon began deploying troops to fight the drugs cartels in December 2006.

It is thought this is the first time a football match in Mexico's top-flight division had to be abandoned due to violence since Mr Calderon became president.

Last year, a baseball game was suspended in the north-eastern border city of Reynosa because of a similar incident.

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More mass graves found in Mexico

13 April 2011 Last updated at 22:56 GMT More bodies were found in Tamaulipas at the same time as graves were discovered in Sinaloa Forensic experts in Mexico have found 13 bodies buried in shallow graves in northwestern Sinaloa state.

Investigators said the victims had been shot in the head, execution-style.

The find comes at the same time as officials unearthed another 10 bodies in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas, bringing the total to 126.

Mexican Interior Secretary Francisco Blake Mora said the government would not tolerate such atrocities and promised to send more troops.

He said the military would not leave the area until those responsible for the crime had been caught.

Sinaloa graves

Authorities were alerted to the mass graves in Sinaloa by a local farmer who noticed a strong smell coming from the field where the bodies were buried.

When a mass grave is found, relatives of the missing come to hear if family members are among the victims

The bodies were found in seven shallow pits. Forensic experts said the victims were killed some five or six months ago.

Two of the victims were female and were wearing clothes which match those of two students who went missing in October.

Officials said they were still awaiting DNA and dental tests to confirm if they were indeed the two students.

One of the male bodies is believed to be that of Edgar Binuela Gutierrez, a doctor who was kidnapped in August in a nearby town.

Investigators said they could identify him because he was wearing a bracelet bearing his name when he was killed.

Tamaulipas killings

The discovery of the Sinaloa graves came as investigators continued to unearth bodies from mass graves in Tamaulipas state, where a total of 126 have now been uncovered over the past week.

The Mexican government blamed the Zetas drug cartel for those killings. The authorities have arrested 17 people in connection with the discovery of the bodies.

The federal government has deployed a special investigative team to try and track down the leaders of the cartel.

Founded by former members of the Mexican special forces, the Zetas cartel is widely believed to be one of the most ruthless groups operating in the country.

Well-trained and well-armed they first acted as hitmen for the Gulf cartel, before setting up their own criminal organisation, police say.

They are also believed to be behind the killing last August of 72 migrants from South and Central America, who were killed in the same town for refusing to join their ranks.

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More mass graves found in Mexico

11 April 2011 Last updated at 22:24 GMT An employee at a morgue in Tamaulipas prepares to unload more bodies found in mass graves The number of bodies found in mass graves in north-eastern Mexico over the past week has risen to 88, after 16 more corpses were discovered.

Investigators found four new graves in San Fernando, not far from the United States border.

They were tipped-off by a suspect who was detained on Saturday.

Police said he had confessed to the kidnapping and subsequent killing of dozens of victims, who were travelling through the area on buses.

On Thursday, police found 59 bodies in eight mass graves in San Fernando, in Tamaulipas state. Thirteen more bodies were discovered the following day in two other graves.

Officials say 16 people have been arrested in connection with the discovery of the mass graves, but the motive for the killings remains unclear.

The gruesome find resembles the discovery last August of the bodies of 72 Central and South American migrants, who were killed in the same town for refusing to join the ranks of the cartel which had abducted them.

Tamaulipas state, where the mass graves where found, is at the centre of a bloody battle between rival drug gangs for control of the lucrative drug-smuggling routes to the US.

Around 35,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence in Mexico since President Felipe Calderon declared war on the country's drug cartels.

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