Seven, including a child, die after gunmen open fire at La Palma resort in Mexico

The attackers yanked off the security cameras at the resort and fled the scene

File. State police officers keep watch at the scene where authorities found the bodies of two of four Americans kidnapped by gunmen, in Matamoros, Mexico, 7 March 2023. - On Saturday, a band of gunmen invaded a resort in central Mexico and shot at the vacationers killing seven (REUTERS)

Seven, including a child, were killed when a band of gunmen opened fire at a resort in central Mexico on Saturday.

The gunmen invaded the La Palma resort and shot the vacationers at the swimming pool, according to reports.

The attack is said to have taken place around 4.30pm on Saturday.

Officials in the Cortazar municipality in Guanajuato state said in a statement that after the shooting, the attackers destroyed the spa shop and took the security cameras before fleeing the spot.

Three women, three men and a seven-year-old child were among the dead. One person was severely injured too, according to reports.

A video posted on social media shows several people running about crying, screaming and hugging their children.

The video, taken by an eye-witness, was also shared on the local news site Debate Noticias and shows the victims collapsed on the floor or on the chairs where they were sitting amid thick clouds of smoke.

Officials said the search for the attackers is ongoing. Police have not revealed any possible motive for the shooting so far.

After the shooting, the attackers destroyed the spa shop and took the security cameras before fleeing, officials said.

Mexico has registered more than 350,000 murders since the government controversially deployed the army to fight drug cartels in 2006, most of them blamed on criminal gangs, AFP reported.

Earlier this month, four bodies were recovered near a beach in Mexico’s Cancún in the latest apparent incident of violence against tourists in the resort town.

Officials said three bodies were found in an area along Kukulkan Boulevard, near one of Cancún’s beachside hotels. A fourth body was found in the undergrowth on the same lot.

The US State Department issued an alert on 13 March advising potential travellers to be aware of the risk of violent crime, drugs, unregulated alcohol and sexual assault.