Four Colombian migrants shot to death in Mexico

ZACATECAS, Mexico, April 25: Four Colombians were killed and four others injured when the vehicle they were driving in Mexico to the US border was fired upon by a suspected criminal group, officials said Monday.

The attack occurred on Sunday morning in the municipality of Villa de Cos in the north-central state of Zacatecas, according to a statement by local authorities.

"An organized crime group attacked a vehicle that was traveling on the federal highway... there are four people who lost their lives," it said.

A source from the state prosecutor's office, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to media, said the victims were originally from Colombia, and were said to be related to each other. Among the injured were two girls.

One of the survivors told police they were trying to reach the northern border to cross into the United States. The authorities became aware of the attack when one of the survivors, accompanied by the two girls, came to ask for help from regional security forces.

The motive for the attack, according to authorities, was presumed to have been to steal the van in which the Colombians were traveling. They refused to obey the armed men who ordered them to stop.

(RSS/AFP)