Unknown people stormed a prison in Mexico and freed nine inmates. Among the escaped prisoners was the leader of a gang that, among other things, stole fuel, as local media reported, citing the authorities. The man had only been arrested a few days earlier on suspicion of murder and kidnapping.
The gunmen gained access to the prison in the central Mexican city of Tula on Thursday night. They rammed the building with vehicles and set two vehicles on fire near the prison as a diversionary maneuver, according to the interior minister of the state of Hidalgo, Simón Vargas. According to the police, two members of the security forces were injured in the action. Media reports that the criminals had also detonated at least one car bomb were initially not confirmed.
Criminal gangs keep tapping pipelines in Mexico to steal gasoline or gas. At least 135 people were killed in the explosion of a gasoline line in Hidalgo in January 2019.