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Mexico casino attack kills dozens
26 August 2011 Last updated at 00:54 ET
Firefighters had to free dozens of people trapped by smoke and flames
At least 51 people have been killed and dozens injured in an attack on a casino in the northern Mexican city of Monterrey.
A group of armed men men broke into the building and doused it with fuel before setting it alight.
Fire crews had to free dozens of people trapped by smoke and flames. Officials say the death toll could rise further.
The state’s attorney general said a drug cartel was apparently responsible for the attack.
In a tweet, Mexican President Felipe Calderon said the attack was “an abhorrent act of terror and barbarism” that requires “all of us to persevere in the fight against these unscrupulous criminal bands.”
Monterrey – Mexico’s third largest city and one of the safest – has seen rising levels of violence over the last few years, as the country’s war against drug gangs has intensified.
‘Barbarism’
State police officials quoted survivors as saying gunmen had burst into the premises and tried to rob it, before emptying fuel from tanks they had brought with them, AP news agency reported.
Some reports suggest the emergency doors of the premises had been locked.
TV images showed relatives outside the casino demanding information about their loved ones.
“My wife came here for a celebration… she was having dinner with her friends,” one man told Milenio TV as wept, Reuters reported.
State Attorney General Leon Adrian de la Garza said a drug cartel was believed to be responsible for the attack and warned that more bodies may be found.
The BBC’s Julian Miglierini in Mexico City said the high number of victims makes the incident one of the boldest attacks by organised crime against civilians in the history of Mexico’s security conflict.
Home to some of Mexico’s largest companies, Monterrey and the state of Nuevo Leon are said to be at the centre of a conflict between rival drug gangs who use the area as one of the routes to transport narcotics into US territory.
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