Ife Osemedua
A Mexican journalist, Israel Vazquez, who worked with El Salmantino online daily newspaper in the country, was on Tuesday killed while covering a news story in the city of Salamanca.
He died in the hospital several hours later, according to Reuters, making him the third reporter to be killed in Mexico in less than a month.
The deceased, 31-year-old, was attacked as he arrived to share collect and share live information about the discovery of a dismembered corpse in a plastic bag, the police is quoted to have said.
When he approached the site in a car clearly marked with the newspaper’s logo, two armed people, apparently those responsible for the crime, forced him to get out and shot him 11 times.
Vazquez suffered a perforated lung and underwent surgery at a local hospital, but did not survive. The state prosecutor’s office has appointed a special team to investigate the journalist’s murder.
Salamanca, the city where Vazquez was murdered, is the scene of clashes between various groups involved in crimes such as drug trafficking, fuel theft and extortion.
Organised crime and violence in the country has contributed to a record of over 36,000 murders in 2019. It is also one of the most dangerous countries in the world for the press. More than 160 journalists have been murdered since 2000, according to figures from the National Human Rights Commission.
(NAN)