In the municipalities of Zihuatanejo and La Unión, armed men set fire to public and private vehicles. Businesses closed, and public transportation was gradually suspended until, after 3:00 p.m., no more Urvan vans were operating in the port city. Meanwhile, in Petatlán, it was reported that most businesses closed for fear of being burned.
Yesterday, Sunday, shortly before noon, authorities received a report that a vehicle was on fire on the improved Ixtapa-Feliciano highway, near the community of La Salitrera, in the western part of the municipality.
It was a Freightliner M2 with a cargo box, belonging to the Eurologistic parcel delivery company. According to the driver, armed men traveling in a pickup truck cut him off on the highway and shot at the windshield and front tires to force him to stop.
He added that although he tried to protect himself, they pulled him from the truck and threw him to the side of the road while they set the vehicle on fire. The fire was extinguished by firefighters from the Zihuatanejo Civil Protection and Fire Department.
The highway was closed in both directions by marines, state police, and agents from the National Guard Highway Division, so motorists used the Zihuatanejo-Lázaro Cárdenas federal highway while traffic was being restored on the other affected road.
Attempt to set fire to a tourist bus with its passengers in Ixtapa; Marines rescue them and pursue the attackers
On Paseo de Zihuatanejo Poniente Boulevard, on the road leading to the Ixtapa hotel zone, a tour bus was nearly set on fire with the tourists inside. The attackers were unsuccessful because trucks from the Mexican Navy, the Army, and the National Guard were passing by and pursued the perpetrators, but were unable to apprehend them.
Later, a video circulated on social media in which the bus driver recounted his experience with the tourists he was carrying. While showing the shattered windshield, he said that armed men had broken it with one of their weapons, warning, “Don’t move, these men are coming with everything.” He said they were already on their way to the hotel for shelter, “and they were already trying to burn our car. The worst part is that they weren’t even giving us a chance to get out; they just hit my windshield with the tip of their gun and left.”
Around 2 p.m., law enforcement agencies received a report that armed men had set fire to a private vehicle parked on a street in the Nuevo Amanecer neighborhood, in the eastern part of the port of Zihuatanejo. The vehicle was completely destroyed by the fire.
Almost simultaneously, on Paseo de Zihuatanejo Oriente Boulevard, near the traffic light popularly known as the “Estrella Blanca bus station” traffic light, armed men stopped a public transport van on the El Coacoyul-Zihuatanejo route. They doused it with gasoline and set it on fire before fleeing. However, firefighters arrived in time to extinguish the flames, preventing further damage. A few minutes later, the driver left with his vehicle.
Minutes later, in the La Noria neighborhood, in the western part of the port of Zihuatanejo, armed men also attempted to set fire to a private vehicle parked next to the market. One of the neighbors recounted hearing an explosion and seeing the men fleeing, leaving behind a container of gasoline. The vehicle was not completely destroyed because the owner and his family fought the fire while waiting for the firefighters to arrive. At five in the afternoon, on Mandarinas Street in the city center, a parked car was set on fire, and by the time firefighters arrived, it had been almost completely destroyed.
Businesses closed, public transportation was suspended, and the population stayed home.
Source: suracapulco
