Six people were killed in northern Mexico while taking part in a Holy
Death ceremony on the Day of the Dead, when millions of Mexicans pay
homage to their late friends and relatives, prosecutors said.
The
incident occurred in the city of Torreon, Coahuila state, when several
armed men burst into the ceremony at around 5:00 p.m. Friday.
Authorities
with the state Attorney General’s Office said the assailants opened
fire with high-caliber weapons, leaving four men dead at the scene. Two
others were seriously wounded and died later at a local hospital.
State police and army soldiers were on the scene as the investigation began.
The
Holy Death cult, popular among drug traffickers and some other Mexican
criminals, is a blend of Christianity, Indian traditions and folk
beliefs that arose in the 1940s in poor Mexico City neighborhoods and
subsequently spread throughout the country.
Condemned by the Vatican, the cult is not recognized as a religious denomination by the Mexican government.
The Holy Death cult, which claims to have 5 million members around the world, has its principal church in Mexico City.
In
another violent incident Friday morning in the same city, four
dismembered bodies were left outside a federal prosecutor’s office by
suspected organized criminals.
The body parts of two women and two men were found in plastic bags inside a vehicle, prosecutors said.
Authorities also found a threatening message whose content was not revealed.
Torreon
has been controlled in recent years by the Los Zetas drug cartel, but a
challenge leveled by the rival Sinaloa mob has led to numerous turf
battles.