Sunday, April 4, 2010

Tampico Fair Cancelled After 7 People Killed In Nightclub On Friday

Mexican state authorities cancelled the 18 day Tampico Fair after shooting deaths

By H. Nelson Goodson
April 4, 2010

Tampico City, Tamaulipas, Mexico - Mexican state authorities cancelled the Tampico Fair on Saturday after rival cartel gangs ignited a gun battle at 10:00 p.m. on Friday inside the table dance Mirage Nightclub. The gun battle resulted in the deaths of 5 men and 2 women. Authorities were also investigating reported multiple gun shots fired inside the fair.
The Mexican army and state authorities evacuted more than 18,000 people just after 11:00 p.m. from the Carpenter Lagoon grounds. Police also closed all the restaurants and night clubs where the 18 day event takes place.
Jenny Rivera, a popular Norteña singer was within 3 seconds to begin her concert, when the gun battle broke out. Rivera in her twitter later reported "how sad and unfortunate time to see people run out of her concert, when the gun battle began."
Reports on Twitter and social networks by festivalgoers who were present say, people at the fair and those attending the Rivera concert heard a gun battle inside the fair grounds. The sound of the gun battle made thousands of people run to the nearest exits and also forced other people to tear down the surrounding security fence at the fair to escape from the area to avoid getting shot.
On Saturday, Yurida Tijeras who was scheduled to perform in a concert that day reported on her Twitter, that her performance had been postponed due to security reasons and had no further information.
State authorities decided to cancel the remaining days of the event for security reasons and to avoid further bloodshed and panic among area residents. Fair organizers have yet to release any official information about the future of the event. The Tampico fair began on March 25 and was scheduled to run until April 11.
Police officials have confirmed that at least six armed and shooting confrontations between drug cartel rivals have been reported since Friday in the Tampico metropolitan area and 10 people have died including the 7 killed at the Mirage.

Youtube video of moments before Jenny Rivera was to go on stage and then people attending the concert at the Tampico Fair 2010 began to flee in panic after a gun battle errupted http://bit.ly/bW71IG

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