Mayor killed during Day Of The Dead festivities

A mayor has been shot dead in front of dozens of people in Mexico during Day Of The Dead festivities.

Carlos Alberto Manzo Rodriguez, who was the mayor of the Uruapan municipality in the violence-plagued western state of Michoacan, was shot seven times by an unidentified man on Saturday night, the authorities said. The 40-year-old was an outspoken critic of organised crime and was attacked in the centre of Uruapan at a candlelit event as part of the festivities.

He was taken to hospital where he later died, according to state prosecutor Carlos Torres Pina. A city council member and a bodyguard were also injured in the attack.

The attacker was killed at the scene and two other suspects were arrested, Mexico's security ministry said. The weapon used in the attack was linked to two armed clashes between rival criminal groups operating in the region, officials added.

Mr Rodriguez was pictured among the crowds shortly before being attacked. Michoacan is one of Mexico's most violent states and is a battleground among various criminal groups fighting for control of territory, drug distribution routes and other illegal activities.

Hundreds of people, dressed in black and holding up photographs of Mr Rodriguez, took to the streets of Uruapan for the funeral procession. Mr Rodriguez, who was often seen wearing a bulletproof vest, had been under close protection since last December, three months after taking office.

His security was reinforced in May with extra police and National Guard officers. Read more from Sky News:At least 20 dead in Afghanistan earthquakeFive mountaineers die after avalanche in Italy In an interview in September with Mexican journalist Joaquin Lopez-Doriga, he said: "I don't want to be just another mayor on the list of those executed, those whose lives have been taken from them." Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum condemned the murder as "vile".

She promised there would be justice and also called an emergency meeting of her security cabinet. In October 2024, the mayor of Chilpancingo, a southwestern city which is the capital of Guerrero state, was murdered just days after taking office..