MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Gunmen shot dead 13 people at a bar in the city of Minatitlan in the Mexican Gulf coast state of Veracruz, authorities said on Friday, in one of the worst slayings to hit Mexico since President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took office.

People react next to police officers guarding a crime scene where unidentified assailants opened fire at a bar in Minatitlan, in Veracruz state, Mexico, April 19, 2019. Picture taken April 19, 2019. REUTERS/Angel Hernandez

The unidentified assailants opened fire on Friday night after coming to look for a man at a bar in the southeast of Minatitlan, a spokesman for the government of Veracruz said.

Seven men, five women and a child died in the shooting, which occurred close to Minatitlan’s oil refinery, one of six run by state oil firm Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex). Four other people were injured, the state government said in a statement.

The motive for the killings was unclear, the spokesman said.

The man the gunmen were seeking was identified as the owner of a bar in the city, the state government said. The attack took place during a family celebration.

It was not immediately clear if the man owned the bar where the attack occurred, nor whether he was present at the time.

Hugo Gutierrez, the head of public security in the state, said on Twitter that an operation had been launched to capture the people responsible for the killings.

The oil-rich state of Veracruz has been convulsed by gang violence and political corruption scandals for several years.

Lopez Obrador took office in December vowing to reduce violence in Mexico, where more than 200,000 people have been killed since the end of 2006 in brutal turf wars between drug cartels and their clashes with security forces.

After reaching record levels in 2018, murder rates have stayed high, surpassing previous-year levels in the first three months of the new government, official government data shows.

The president was due to visit Veracruz on Sunday, according to an official schedule published before the attack took place.</s>13 people have been shot dead by gunmen who opened fire on a family party at a bar in Mexico.

The assailants are said to have been searching for a bar owner - but it’s not clear whether the man they were looking for was among the victims. The attack happened in the city of Minatitlan in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz.

The oil rich region has been the focus of gang violence and corruption scandals for many years.

Seven men, five women and a child died in the shooting.</s>: Infamous Mexican drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán is one of the most notoriously dangerous and successful drug lords in history. He is on trial for his crimes in New York as his history of crime and violence has caught up to him.

Gunmen have shot dead 13 people at a bar in the city of Minatitlan in the Mexican Gulf coast state of Veracruz, authorities say, in one of the worst slayings to hit Mexico since President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took office. The unidentified assailants opened fire on Friday night after coming to look for a man at a bar in the southeast of Minatitlan, a spokesman for the government of Veracruz said.

Seven men, five women and a child died in the shooting, which occurred close to Minatitlan’s oil refinery, one of six run by state oil firm Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex). Four other people were injured, the state government said in a statement.

The motive for the killings was unclear, the spokesman said. The man the gunmen were seeking was identified as the owner of a bar in the city, the state government said. The attack took place during a family celebration.

It was not immediately clear if the man owned the bar where the attack occurred, nor whether he was present at the time.

Hugo Gutierrez, the head of public security in the state, said on Twitter that an operation had been launched to capture the people responsible for the killings.

The oil-rich state of Veracruz has been convulsed by gang violence and political corruption scandals for several years.

Lopez Obrador took office in December vowing to reduce violence in Mexico, where more than 200,000 people have been killed since the end of 2006 in brutal turf wars between drug cartels and their clashes with security forces. After reaching record levels in 2018, murder rates have stayed high, surpassing previous-year levels in the first three months of the new government, official government data shows.

The president was due to visit Veracruz on Sunday, according to an official schedule published before the attack took place.</s>MEXICO CITY (DPA) - Unidentified gunmen stormed a party in the south-eastern Mexican state of Veracruz and killed 13 people, including a young child, according to reports.

The attack occurred late on Friday (April 19) as a children's party was under way in the city of Minatitlan, the broadcaster Telemundo reported.

Seven other people were injured, the reports said. Most of the victims are said to have been from the same family.

Police said the the gunmen were still at large and their motives were unknown.

In a tweet, Veracruz Interior Minister Hugo Gutierrez Maldonado offered his condolences to victims' relatives and promised to catch the killers.

Veracruz is one of Mexico's most dangerous states, where cartels often engage in brutal battles. Last year, there were over 33,000 murders in the country, most of which were linked to organised crime.</s>Gunmen raided a family party in the Mexican state of Veracruz, killing 13 people, including a child, authorities said.

Four other people were injured in the attack Friday in the city of Minatitlán

“Federal and state forces have deployed a strong search and capture operation of those responsible for the events,” Gutiérrez Maldonado, secretary of public security in Veracruz state, tweeted Saturday.

Federal authorities are collaborating with the Veracruz state authorities to find those responsible, authorities said.

State authorities have held an emergency meeting “to address the regrettable and condemnable events,” Veracruz state Gov. Cuitláhuac García tweeted.

A motive for the mass shooting was not immediately known.

The attackers were looking for a person called El Beky, according to preliminary reports obtained by the state police. “El Beky” is the owner of a bar located in Minatitlán.</s>Thirteen people, including a child, were killed Friday when a group of unidentified gunmen opened fire on a party in the violence-wracked eastern Mexican state of Veracruz, officials said.

The Secretariat of Public Safety said the gunmen arrived at a family celebratoin in Minatitlan asking to see someone named "El Becky" -- the owner of a local bar -- before opening fire.

Seven men, five women and a child died in the shooting, which occurred close to Minatitlan's oil refinery, one of six run by state oil firm Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex). Four other people were injured, the state government said.

The incident is one of the worst slayings to hit Mexico since President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took office.

Hugo Gutierrez, the head of public security in the state, said on Twitter that an operation had been launched to capture the people responsible for the killings.

The oil-rich state of Veracruz has been convulsed by gang violence and political corruption scandals for several years.

Lopez Obrador was due to visit Veracruz on Sunday, according to an official schedule published before the attack took place.

Survivors described how the gunmen forced their victims to look them in the face before shooting them.

"They told them to turn around to see them, to see them while they were killing them," said one women who asked not to be identified.

"I felt the gun at my head ... the guy pointed it at me but didn't shoot," she added, dressed a colorful traditional Mexican costume.

Another young woman, whose brother was murdered, said: "There were about six of them. Even if you had a baby in your arms, they still shot you."

Gang-linked hitmen frequently carry out public assassinations in Mexico, but more than 40,000 people are also registered as "missing" -- likely murdered and buried somewhere remotely.

More than a quarter of a million people have been killed since 2006 when the government of then-president Felipe Calderon launched a crackdown on drug traffickers.

Lopez Obrador took office in December vowing to reduce violence in Mexico. After reaching record levels in 2018, murder rates have stayed high, surpassing previous-year levels in the first three months of the new government, official government data shows.</s>MEXICO -- Gunmen burst into a party hall in southeastern Mexico on Friday and opened fire, killing at least 13 people, authorities said.

The attackers raided a family party in the city of Minatitlán in the Mexican state of Veracruz. Six men, five women and a child were killed and four others were wounded, the state's public security department said.

Authorities said the suspects were looking for a person known as "El Beky" when shooting ensued, according to preliminary reports obtained by the state police. He is believed to be the owner of a bar located in Minatitlán.

But the motive behind the mass shooting was not immediately known.

"Federal and state forces have deployed a strong search and capture operation of those responsible for the events," Gutiérrez Maldonado, secretary of public security in Veracruz state, tweeted Saturday.

State authorities held an emergency meeting "to address the regrettable and condemnable events," Veracruz state Gov. Cuitláhuac García tweeted.

Minatitlán Mayor Nicolás Reyes Álvarez described the attack as a "tragedy that tears the soul" and an incident that he "deeply regrets."

He called state and federal officials to investigate the shooting "so they would not go unpunished in any way."

Friday's mass shooting in Minatitlán comes just a couple of days before President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is scheduled to travel to the state of Veracruz for an official visit.

Reyes Álvarez said he plans to ask López Obrador to increase security forces and, if possible, assign the Mexican National Guard to patrol the city. Minatitlán has also canceled a public weekend-long event to commemorate Holy Week and Easter.

Minatitlán is about 315 miles (507 kilometers) southeast of Mexico City. The shooting took place near one of the six oil refineries run by Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, the country's state-owned oil company.</s>(CNN)Gunmen raided a family party in the Mexican state of Veracruz, killing 13 people, including a child,...</s>Relatives and friends mourn outside the bar where 13 people were killed in a shooting, in Minatitlan, Mexico on April 19, 2019. Photo: AFP</s>The bar is the fourth in the Monk stable, with others in Matlock, Belper and Sheffield. Chesterfield's Monk Bar officially opens at 5pm on Saturday, April 13.
A mass shooting at a bar in Minatitlán, Veracruz, kills 13 people and injures 4 others.