A family gathering in Mexico turns into a bloodbath

Gunmen killed five people on Sunday, two women and three men, who participated in a family party in Chihuahua, the capital of the state of the same name, in northern Mexico, authorities said.

The attack took place in the Vista Hermosa neighborhood, around 01:00 local time on Sunday (06h00 GMT), when two men armed with guns entered the house where the party was held, according to testimonies collected by the municipal security secretariat.

"Three men and two women died at the scene of the attack, apart from the fact that another woman was seriously injured and was taken to receive medical attention," the secretary explained in a report. Forensic personnel went to the crime scene to collect evidence and move the bodies to their facilities.

The vast territory of Chihuahua, bordering the United States, concentrates the activity of groups of drug traffickers who dispute the routes to introduce the merchandise to the neighboring country, but also the sale of drugs at retail in Mexican territory and other crimes such as extortion.

At the beginning of this decade, the border city of Ciudad Juarez, the largest city in the state, was the scene of an escalation of criminality that led it to be considered one of the most violent in the world.

The crimes in Mexico reached a new record during the first quarter of the year with 8,493 murders, an increase of 9.6% compared to 7,750 registered in the same period of 2018, according to official figures published a week ago. 2018 was considered the most violent year in the history of the country with 33,518 murders.