50 gunmen attack Monterrey hotel in Mexico kidnappings

Law enforcement officials, offering only scant details by late afternoon, said it was not immediately clear whether a fourth person was seized or how many gunmen took part in the 3 a.m. attack. Authorities offered no motive for the kidnappings, but the attack bore the hallmarks of Mexico's drug gang violence.

Monterrey's mayor, Fernando Larrazabal, said police had trouble reaching the scene because the attackers commandeered cars and used them to block surrounding streets. Larrazabal told a radio interviewer that the kidnappers had disappeared in less than 20 minutes.

Authorities dismissed news reports that the kidnappers had seized another person from a hotel across the street. Initial news accounts here said seven people had been kidnapped.


[Source: Ken Ellingwood, Los Angeles Times]