By Lizbeth Diaz
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Federal prosecutors said on Thursday they will investigate an overnight car blast in central Mexico that injured at least four members of the country’s National Guard, with local authorities suspecting the use of explosives in the incident.
Diego Sinhue Rodriguez, governor of the state of Guanajuato, said “it would seem based on the initial report that there were explosives” involved in the blast, which took place on the outskirts of Celaya, a city long wracked by gang violence.
Rodriguez said authorities were investigating reports the explosion happened after the security officials went to the scene to check a phone tip that the car contained bodies.
“Now we need to determine whether this was a direct attack on the National Guard,” Mexico’s army-run federal security force, the governor told reporters.
The federal attorney general’s office said it would investigate the case, after Rodriguez urged it to intervene as forensic experts look into the cause of the explosion. Some Mexican media described the blast as a “car bomb.”
Rodriguez said local authorities are looking into whether the incident was linked to recent arrests and attacks on local police. He added that shortly beforehand he had met with Army officials to discuss reinforcing security in the area.
They would also investigate possible involvement of corrupt police, he said, vowing to bring the perpetrators to justice.
One of Mexico’s most violent states, Guanajuato is a battleground for criminal organizations often dealing in drugs, kidnapping, extortion and fuel theft.
There were 1,380 murders across the state between January and May this year, according to security ministry data.
(Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz and Dave Graham; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by Sandra Maler)
