Authorities on Saturday expanded the search for three missing soldiers after armed assailants shot their helicopter in western Mexico, as new fires erupted a day after a drug cartel lit up the region. Elsewhere, deadly waves hit the Pacific coast of Central and South American nations.
The Jalisco State prosecutor’s office appealed for calm after a dairy shop and two of the business’ vehicles were torched in Puerto Vallarta.
“It has not been confirmed that it is a roadblock by organized crime,” Jalisco government spokesman Gonzalo Sanchez tweeted.
Photo: AFP
The new blazes came a day after dozens of vehicles, banks and gasoline stations were set on fire across the state. Authorities have detained 19 people, they said.
Officials say the Jalisco New Generation Drug Cartel launched Friday’s attacks in reaction to an operation to dismantle the gang.
Seven people were killed, including three soldiers who died when assailants shot their helicopter’s tail rotor, forcing it to make an emergency landing near Villa Purificacion, Mexico.
“The search [area] has expanded,” an official told reporters on condition of anonymity, adding that the soldiers could be hiding, unconscious or dead.
“We still do not know what happened to them,” the official said.
However, officials would not speculate on whether the group could have kidnapped them.
In other news, three people were killed, one is missing and hundreds had to evacuate after strong waves lashed the Pacific coast of Central and South America.
In Panama, one person was swept away by strong waves that prompted an alert from authorities on Saturday, while in Mexico a man drowned on a beach in Acapulco. Waves more than 4m high battered seaside homes and flooded streets of the city.
The third death occurred in Valparaiso, Chile, where a European tourist was swept away and another person was injured, the nation’s emergency office said.
A 14-year-old boy was reported missing in El Salvador. Several people had to be rescued and about 400 were evacuated as the strong waves damaged more than 50 homes.
Mexican authorities said that the sea swell is produced yearly by large storms and winds offshore. The swell is likely to affect the coast for the next four days.
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