Gunfire brings halt to Mexican football game

A football match in Mexico's first division had to be abandoned after a shootout outside a stadium in the northern city of Torreon forced players and spectators to take cover.

Players ran to their dressing room and fans dived for cover when shots rang out near the end of the first half of the game between Santos and Monarcas Morelia. Officials suspended the game in the 40th minute.

The attorney general of the state of Coahuila, Jesus Torres, said that the shooting began after three vehicles with armed men failed to stop at a military checkpoint outside the stadium, prompting an exchange of fire.

One police officer was wounded in the shooting, although no one was hurt inside the stadium, where a crowd of around 20,000 had turned up to watch the match.

No one has been arrested so far in connection with the shooting, authorities said. Drug-related violence in northern Mexico has cost thousands of lives in the past few years, although it was not clear if the shooting was linked to organised crime. REUTERS