Four reporters shot, injured in southern Mexico

By: AFP
Published: 07:32 PM, 29 Nov, 2023
Four reporters shot, injured in southern Mexico
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Four journalists were shot and wounded in southern Mexico on Tuesday, officials said, the latest in a series of attacks that make the country one of the most dangerous for reporters.

Attackers on a motorcycle opened fire on three of the journalists around noon in Chilpancingo, the capital of Guerrero state, where they were covering a murder, the local prosecutor's office said.

The journalists -- identified as Jesus Antonio de la Cruz, Oscar Guerrero and Victor Mateo Francisco -- sustained injuries to the back, arm and neck, according to prosecutors.

The media advocacy group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said the trio were in stable condition.

"RSF calls on the authorities to act quickly to ensure their protection & that of their families," RSF said on X, formerly Twitter.

The three journalists cover political and crime stories for different local media, according to the group.

A fourth journalist was wounded by gunfire in the city of Apatzingan in the neighboring state of Michoacan, local police said.

Maynor Ramon Ramirez with the local news portal ABC, who had survived an attack in 2016, was taken to hospital.

The shootings occurred a week after three other reporters were kidnapped and later released in the city of Taxco, also in Guerrero.

Mexico is considered one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists, according to RSF.

Photojournalist Ismael Villagomez was shot and killed this month in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez.

Three people have been arrested over his killing.

At least five other journalists have been killed in Mexico this year, and more than 150 have been killed since 2000, according to RSF.

 

Categories : World

Agence France-Presse is an international news agency.