At least 23 people were killed after a fire broke out in a bar in southern Mexico Tuesday night, NBC News reported, with authorities investigating a possible arson attack.
Thirteen others were left seriously injured following the blaze in the southern port city of Coatzacoalcos, NBC said, citing a statement from the state attorney general’s office.
The office condemned “what may constitute a malicious attack,” it added.
Citing reports, The Los Angeles Times said Molotov cocktails had been thrown into the bar.
Images carried by local media showed a wrecked interior with chairs overturned and debris littering the floor, and emergency vehicles and police outside the building.
“The devious crime of a few moments ago in Coatzacoalcos will not go unpunished,” the governor of Veracruz state said in a tweet.
Veracruz is one of the most violent regions of Mexico. Drug trafficking routes to the United States pass through it, and bloody battles frequently erupt between rival drug gangs.