MEXICO CITY, Aug 28 (Reuters) - At least 23 people died in a bar fire in the southeastern Mexican port of Coatzacoalcos late on Tuesday after a suspected attack, authorities said, in what appeared to be one of the most deadly acts of criminal violence under the current government.

Eight women died along with 15 male victims after the fire in the "Caballo Blanco" bar, according to a statement by the attorney general's office of the state of Veracruz.

Another 13 people were seriously injured and are being treated in hospital, it said.

Veracruz state governor Cuitlahuac Garcia suggested the fire may have been the result of a dispute between gangs.

Some Mexican media reported that gunmen had fired shots on the bar before setting it ablaze with Molotov cocktails.

The deaths follow an attack in April on another bar in Veracruz in the city of Minatitlan that killed 13 people and drew criticism from President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who took office in December pledging to curb gang violence.

So far the number of murders in Mexico has continued to rise after reaching record levels last year, and Lopez Obrador has said more needs to be done.

Veracruz governor Garcia said on Twitter that as in the case of the attack in Minatitlan, the perpetrators would be brought to justice and that the state would not tolerate criminal gangs.

The Gulf Coast state is a major transit point for drugs making their way north towards the U.S. border and has long been convulsed by violent turf wars between organized crime groups. </s> 13 people have been shot dead by gunmen who opened fire on a family party at a bar in Mexico.

The assailants are said to have been searching for a bar owner - but it’s not clear whether the man they were looking for was among the victims. The attack happened in the city of Minatitlan in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz.

The oil rich region has been the focus of gang violence and corruption scandals for many years.

Seven men, five women and a child died in the shooting. </s> Gunmen raided a family party in the Mexican state of Veracruz, killing 13 people, including a child, authorities said.

Four other people were injured in the attack Friday in the city of Minatitlán

“Federal and state forces have deployed a strong search and capture operation of those responsible for the events,” Gutiérrez Maldonado, secretary of public security in Veracruz state, tweeted Saturday.

Federal authorities are collaborating with the Veracruz state authorities to find those responsible, authorities said.

State authorities have held an emergency meeting “to address the regrettable and condemnable events,” Veracruz state Gov. Cuitláhuac García tweeted.

A motive for the mass shooting was not immediately known.

The attackers were looking for a person called El Beky, according to preliminary reports obtained by the state police. “El Beky” is the owner of a bar located in Minatitlán. </s> Veracruz [Mexico], August 28 (Sputnik/ANI): At least 23 people were killed and 13 others have sustained severe injuries following a fire in a bar in Mexico's southern Veracruz State, General Prosecutor's Office said in a statement on Wednesday.

The incident occurred late on Tuesday in El Caballo Blanco bar in the port city of Coatzacoalcos.

"As a result of the fire in the bar, 23 people have been killed -- eight women and 15 men. Thirteen people have sustained serious injuries and are already receiving medical assistance in different medical centres," the General Prosecutor's Office said.

Local authorities are currently investigating the reasons behind the fire, with prosecutors trying to find out if the fire resulted from an attack.

According to Razon newspaper, the fire broke out after an attack in which Molotov cocktails were used, but the authorities have not yet confirmed the information. (Sputnik/ANI) </s> MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Gunmen shot dead 13 people at a bar in the city of Minatitlan in the Mexican Gulf coast state of Veracruz, authorities said on Friday, in one of the worst slayings to hit Mexico since President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took office.

People react next to police officers guarding a crime scene where unidentified assailants opened fire at a bar in Minatitlan, in Veracruz state, Mexico, April 19, 2019. Picture taken April 19, 2019. REUTERS/Angel Hernandez

The unidentified assailants opened fire on Friday night after coming to look for a man at a bar in the southeast of Minatitlan, a spokesman for the government of Veracruz said.

Seven men, five women and a child died in the shooting, which occurred close to Minatitlan’s oil refinery, one of six run by state oil firm Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex). Four other people were injured, the state government said in a statement.

The motive for the killings was unclear, the spokesman said.

The man the gunmen were seeking was identified as the owner of a bar in the city, the state government said. The attack took place during a family celebration.

It was not immediately clear if the man owned the bar where the attack occurred, nor whether he was present at the time.

Hugo Gutierrez, the head of public security in the state, said on Twitter that an operation had been launched to capture the people responsible for the killings.

The oil-rich state of Veracruz has been convulsed by gang violence and political corruption scandals for several years.

Lopez Obrador took office in December vowing to reduce violence in Mexico, where more than 200,000 people have been killed since the end of 2006 in brutal turf wars between drug cartels and their clashes with security forces.

After reaching record levels in 2018, murder rates have stayed high, surpassing previous-year levels in the first three months of the new government, official government data shows.

The president was due to visit Veracruz on Sunday, according to an official schedule published before the attack took place. </s> Relatives and friends mourn outside the bar where 13 people were killed in a shooting, in Minatitlan, Mexico on April 19, 2019. Photo: AFP </s> At least 23 people were killed and another 13 severely injured when assailants attacked a night club in Mexico's Gulf coast port city of Coatzacoalcos.

The attack, which started on Tuesday night, killed 8 women and 15 men.

Read more: Against the current: Femicide in Mexico on the rise and growing more brutal

Local media reported men first opened fire with maschine guns and then threw Molotov cocktails inside the El Caballo Blanco (The White Horse) table dance bar when it was packed full of people.

Pictures on the night club's Facebook page show images of dancers, customers, walls painted with nude women and "VIP rooms."

The attorney-general's office said they were working with police to investigate and find the perpetrators.

Veracruz Governor Cuitlahuac Garcia Jimenez said that the "criminals" would not go unpunished.

"In Veracruz criminal groups are no longer tolerated," he wrote on Twitter.

Veracruz is one of the most violent states in Mexico with fierce fighting between criminal groups for control of drug trafficking and other criminal activities.

So far this year, more than 1,600 people have died from violence in the state, an average of seven deaths per day.

Some local media likened the attack to one in 2011 on a bar in Monterey that killed 52 people.

The Zetas drug cartel carried out that attack using fire and guns to enforce demands for protection payments.

Every evening, DW sends out a selection of the day's news and features. Sign up here. </s> MEXICO -- Gunmen burst into a party hall in southeastern Mexico on Friday and opened fire, killing at least 13 people, authorities said.

The attackers raided a family party in the city of Minatitlán in the Mexican state of Veracruz. Six men, five women and a child were killed and four others were wounded, the state's public security department said.

Authorities said the suspects were looking for a person known as "El Beky" when shooting ensued, according to preliminary reports obtained by the state police. He is believed to be the owner of a bar located in Minatitlán.

But the motive behind the mass shooting was not immediately known.

"Federal and state forces have deployed a strong search and capture operation of those responsible for the events," Gutiérrez Maldonado, secretary of public security in Veracruz state, tweeted Saturday.

State authorities held an emergency meeting "to address the regrettable and condemnable events," Veracruz state Gov. Cuitláhuac García tweeted.

Minatitlán Mayor Nicolás Reyes Álvarez described the attack as a "tragedy that tears the soul" and an incident that he "deeply regrets."

He called state and federal officials to investigate the shooting "so they would not go unpunished in any way."

Friday's mass shooting in Minatitlán comes just a couple of days before President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is scheduled to travel to the state of Veracruz for an official visit.

Reyes Álvarez said he plans to ask López Obrador to increase security forces and, if possible, assign the Mexican National Guard to patrol the city. Minatitlán has also canceled a public weekend-long event to commemorate Holy Week and Easter.

Minatitlán is about 315 miles (507 kilometers) southeast of Mexico City. The shooting took place near one of the six oil refineries run by Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, the country's state-owned oil company. </s> MEXICO CITY (DPA) - Unidentified gunmen stormed a party in the south-eastern Mexican state of Veracruz and killed 13 people, including a young child, according to reports.

The attack occurred late on Friday (April 19) as a children's party was under way in the city of Minatitlan, the broadcaster Telemundo reported.

Seven other people were injured, the reports said. Most of the victims are said to have been from the same family.

Police said the the gunmen were still at large and their motives were unknown.

In a tweet, Veracruz Interior Minister Hugo Gutierrez Maldonado offered his condolences to victims' relatives and promised to catch the killers.

Veracruz is one of Mexico's most dangerous states, where cartels often engage in brutal battles. Last year, there were over 33,000 murders in the country, most of which were linked to organised crime.
A mass shooting at a bar in Minatitlán, Veracruz, kills 13 people and injures 4 others.