6 dead, 5 wounded after shootout in central Mexico

MEXICO CITY -- Six people were killed and five others wounded on Saturday morning during a shootout in the city of Uriangato in Guanajuato state, Mexico, local authorities reported.

According to local media, around 3:15 am local time (0915 GMT), armed men fired on a group of people at a gas station near the Burladero bar in central Uriangato.

The Uriangato mayor's office said in a statement that local police initially found five people dead and six others wounded in the gunshots, along with a discarded firearm and several bullet casings.

The injured are currently being treated in the hospitals, though one of them died after being brought to a nearby clinic.

"The municipal government immediately called on the Guanajuato state government to reinforce security in the area through the dispatch of around 60 members of the Public Security Forces," said the statement.

Guanajuato, a state known for both industry and tourism, leads the 2019 list of areas of Mexico with the greatest number of homicides, with 3,211 deaths from January to November, according to the Mexican government.

Guanajuato law enforcement said recently that the state has been facing a difficult period, as a war has escalated between two criminal organizations looking to dominate the local drug and stolen fuel trades.