Terror Explosion Near Mexican Police Station, 5 People Died

UNSPLASH/Oscar De La Lanza ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - The number of victims who died in the explosion outside the police station in Michoacrispal state, western Mexico, on weekends increased to five people.

A total of 12 other people were injured after the explosion on Saturday last weekend.

The explosion occurred during the day in downtown Coahuayana, on the coast of Michoacmen, the state where many criminal groups operate, including the influential Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

That's where the government recently launched a massive security operation given the continuing violence.

The state prosecutor's office said the vehicle that exploded was a pickup truck. Two bodies were found at the scene.

Authorities said three of them were killed and five of those injured were members of the community police.

One of the victims who died at the scene was the truck driver who exploded.

The use of explosives dropped from drones, buried like mines, or hidden along the road has become an increasingly common technique used by criminal groups in the region, although its placement in cars is not common.

According to Hector Zepeda, community police commander, the explosion was so powerful that human bodies were scattered throughout the area.

The police are one of several police officers formed more than a decade ago during the civil martial arts movement against the cartel.

Community police were later inaugurated by the state, although in some areas they have been infiltrated by criminals.

The explosion comes as state governor Alfredo Rammenzez Bedolla is attending a public event with President Claudia Sheinbaum in Mexico City to celebrate seven years of the ruling government of Morena.