British Columbian travelers in Mazatlán say they are being swamped in rentals and resorts as a wave of violence rages in the Mexican state of Sinaloa.
Violence broke out in the state on Thursday after police arrested an alleged drug cartel leader Ovidio GuzmanSon of jailed Sinaloa Cartel boss Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
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Most of the violence appeared to be concentrated in the city of Culiacan, where the airline Aeromexico said one of its passenger planes was hit by a bullet during fighting.
However, three airports have been closed, including Mazatlán’s airport, and Canada has issued a travel advisory for the entire province.
“One thing we know tonight is that we are safe, we are with friends. I have reached out to my family to let them know that we are okay,” said Nanaimo, B.C., resident Mark Lockhart, who is with his wife and friends. were living near the city with, told Global News on Thursday evening.
Lockhart and his companions had no idea what was happening until they tried to travel to the beach on Thursday morning, only to find the roadways in chaos.
A burning truck on a highway near Mazatlan.
Mark Lockhart
“We saw these two trucks burning … and we turned around, so we went over the overpass and there was another truck burning, closing it all the way to the Mazatlan airport,” he said.
They returned to where they were staying, where they learned from a local connection what was going on and decided to stay there.
“(Our friends are) holed up in an apartment in the city. As soon as the crackdown started this morning, they were asked by the government to immediately move off the streets, off the streets, shut down and be safe,” he said.
“We’re going to take our friends’ advice… and stay home tonight, we have a nice little back yard here, we can chill and we’re watching the hockey game.”
Chilliwack resident Donna Arellano and her friends had left their resort on Thursday morning for a tour of the city when the bus driver told them the tour had been canceled because of the fighting.
“To be honest it’s kind of scary, but what can we do? We’re here now, and it’s not safe for us to leave the resort, that’s for sure,” she said.
Arellano said the group was trying to make the most of the situation, swimming and going to the beach at the resort, where she said they felt safe.
However the group was scheduled to fly out on Friday afternoon, and are unsure of what will happen next.
Submitted to Mark Lockhart/Global News
She said that her airline had not told her whether the flight would go ahead yet, adding that she was terrified at the thought that the violence was not yet over.
“We have to travel from our resort to the airport for half an hour and that is on the highway,” she said. “It’s kind of scary because they shot one of the airplanes this morning from Aeromexico, from the other airport, they shot it. So it’s scary for us.
Lockhart also said that his travel plans are now up in the air.
His party was due to fly out on Saturday, but he said he was not sure if airports would be back up and running by then.
“It’s starting to look like that’s not going to happen. There are rumors that the airport won’t be open until Monday.” “We’ll see what happens.”
The federal government’s updated travel notice for the country notes “widespread violence and security operations” in the state of Sinaloa, particularly in Culiacan, Mazatlán, Los Mochis and Guasave.
The advisory states that Culiacan and Mazatlan airports are closed and all flights at Los Mochis airport have been suspended until further notice. Cars burning, firing and threats to essential infrastructure have been reported in the affected areas, officials said.
Canadians in Sinaloa should stay put if possible, and “avoid areas where demonstrations and large gatherings are taking place,” and not to cross roadblocks set up by law enforcement or gang members.
– With files from Sean Boynton and Aaron MacArthur
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