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Bullet-riddled house wall in a community in Michoacán
Photo: ENRIQUE CASTRO / AFP
A gun attack on protesters in the Mexican state of Michoacán has killed 19 people.
The police were called to the crime scene in the village of Las Tinajas around 10:30 p.m. (local time) on Sunday evening.
According to the Attorney General's Office, officers found the lifeless bodies of 16 men and three women with gunshot wounds.
Several injured were taken to the hospital.
The authority did not comment on the background to the act of violence.
Michoacán is one of the states with the most violent clashes between rival cartels.
According to official figures, more than 340,000 people have been killed in the Latin American country since the Mexican state launched an offensive against drug cartels in 2006, most of them in the course of clashes between drug gangs.
The victims met at a so-called Palenque in the community of Zinapécuaro, around 250 kilometers west of Mexico City.
Palenques are traditional Mexican arenas where, for example, cockfights are held.
According to local media reports, armed men entered the site of the illegal event and shot at those present.
Other media spoke of an »execution«.
According to Michoacán's Ministry of Public Security, the country's Ministry of Defense and the Guardia Nacional are looking for the perpetrators.
ala/dpa/AFP