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Four killed in attempt to free hostage in Mexico (Roundup)
Jul 3, 2009, 18:49 GMT
Mexico City - Four people were killed during an attempt to free a hostage in Mexico City on Friday, the city's public prosecutor said.
The 35-year-old hostage-taker killed the hostage then shot dead the two police officers in a neighbourhood in southern Mexico City, before commiting suicide, emptying his weapon.
The 50-year-old woman who taken hostage and had been tied up was shot twice before committing suicide, Mexico City public prosecutor Miguel Angel Mancera said.
Mancera said two other women who were in the house at the time of the raid were arrested, suspected of being part of a gang of kidnappers.
In the house in the Mexico City neighbourhood of Xochimilco, authorities seized an AK-47 rifle and a 9 mm pistol. Sixty police officers were involved in the operation.
Kidnappings are common in Mexico, as in other Latin American countries. They affect both the members of wealthy families, from whom large ransoms are demanded, and poorer people. It is not uncommon for kidnappers to kill their victims when the ransom has been paid.
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