Mexico violence: Two more die after attack on wake in Morelos

There have been a series of deadly shootings in Cuernavaca over the past year (file photo)

Two more people have died after a gun attack on mourners at a wake in the Mexican city of Cuernavaca.

The number shot dead when gunmen opened fire on people mourning the death of a youth who was killed in a motorcycle accident has risen to eight.

Police said the guns appeared to have been used in previous crimes which, they say, suggests the perpetrators have links to organised crime.

It is the latest in a series of mass shootings in the city this year.

Rise in murders

It came just hours after Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said in his state of the nation address that murders and extortion by organised crime gangs had increased since he came to power.

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A police search for those behind Tuesday's shooting has so far not led to any arrests.

Four youths aged between 16 and 18 died at the scene of the shooting while four other victims, aged 15, 21, 25 and 31 died later of their injuries.

Fourteen people were injured in the attack, which occurred at around 22:35 local time (03:35 GMT) on Tuesday.

Among those injured are two children.

Ballistic experts have linked the guns used in the shooting to other crimes committed in the area.

Last month, six people were shot dead when gunmen opened fire on a group who had gathered to have a drink in a street in Cuernavaca. The motive of that attack is not clear either.

Earlier this year, the bishop of Morelos, Ramón Castro Castro, said that the state had been "overrun" by crime.

Crime figures for the state shot up last year - a 35% rise in murders, a 68% increase in kidnappings and 363% more extortions compared to 2018, official figures suggest.

Security analysts say the spike in violence is to blame on a battle for control of the state between five warring crime gangs.

President López Obrador said that his government was combating the causes of crime by "providing work, education and welfare for people who are at risk of being recruited by criminal groups, especially the young".

But official figures suggest that across Mexico murders have been on the rise again this year after reaching a record high in 2019.

There were 20,494 registered murders in the first seven months of 2020, compared with 19,357 in the same period of 2018.

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