Casino Attack in Mexico Claims 52 Lives

The attack to Casino Royale in Monterrey left 52 people dead so far, said Rodrigo Medina, governor of Nuevo Leon.

Medina showed in a press conference the images captured by a camera outside the Casino Royale, the video shows at least three vehicles (two trucks and a Minicooper) arriving to the betting place and nine well-armed men who got out of the cars carrying drums that may have contained the fuel to cause the fire.

The attack began at 15:38 hours, the same time of the arrival of the criminals’ vehicles to the front door of the Casino Royale. In the video, it is clear that people are leaving the building and ran just two and a half minutes later, smoke could be seen in the images and the criminals got on their cars and escaped. After the attack, the fire spreaded and consumed the premises for at least three hours. The fire was controlled by firefighters and, after breaking down several walls, rescue workers found dozens of people died,mostly by poisoning. Commander Angel Flores, Chief Medical Officer of Green Cross, told El País Newspaper that at least a dozen bodies were found in the bathrooms.

Due to the number of deaths, the attack is considered the biggest attack of criminals against civilians in the recent history of Mexico. The rescue and investigation restarted on Friday morning.

(MS)

Source: El País