A lunchtime blast that killed one person and injured two on a main street near a tourist district has shocked residents of the Mexican capital, which has so far largely avoided the drug violence raging in the rest of the country.
City and federal officials say the homemade bomb, which exploded two blocks from a Mexico City police compound on Friday afternoon, was likely the work of organized crime rather than leftist rebels.
The country has suffered from a wave of shootouts, grenade attacks and execution-style killings that left more than 2,500 dead nationwide last year. But authorities say Mexico City traditionally has been more of a meeting place for traffickers looking to close drug deals than a base for their operations.
"It's scary to think that criminals can do whatever they want," 55-year-old electrician Apolinar Valadez said on Saturday. "The narcos already think they own the country, and now they want to own the city."
Investigators believe the explosive was detonated remotely by a cellphone, Police Chief Joel Ortega said on Friday.
Injuries to the dead man, who has not been identified, indicate he was carrying the bomb in his right hand, Ortega said. Investigators have yet to question an injured woman identified as 22-year-old Tania Vazquez, whom police say knew the dead man, and are investigating whether they may have played a role in the blast.
Vazquez, who suffered serious burns, remained at a hospital on Saturday in stable condition under police guard. The daily El Universal reported that police arrested two men at her home in the Tepito neighborhood late on Friday.
A 29-year-old apparent bystander, who suffered minor injuries, was also questioned by police, Ortega said.
No group has claimed responsibility for the bomb, which contained gunpowder, pieces of metal and pellets. Rebel groups that have set off explosives outside banks and blown up petroleum pipelines tend to issue warnings, which didn't happen on Friday.
Mexico City has recently seen an increase in drug arrests and weapons seizures, including last week's detention of seven alleged well armed members of the Sinaloa cartel. Last month, 11 alleged hit men for the gang were arrested at two mansions in the city.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS