Police Officers Involved in the Mexican Night Club Raid Sacked

In a strange twist to the Mexican night club stampede episode, 17 police officers involved in the raid have been sacked.

At least 12 persons were crushed to death in the stampede during a police raid Friday. The dead included three policemen.

Police entered the New Divine nightclub, where around 1,000 people had gathered to fete the end of the school year, to break up the illegal sale of alcohol to minors and a stampede ensued, said Joel Ortega, a local security official.

Thirty-nine people were arrested during the raid, including the owner of the club.

But now the focus has shifted to the alleged high-handedness of the police as people are up in outraged over the deaths.

The man in charge of the raid could face homicide charges, it is reported.

He allegedly told his officers not to let anyone else out of the club, because police vans were full.

A video released by the city's public security department appears to contradict the earlier stance of the police that it was that the club owner who had triggered off the panic by warning on the public address system that everyone around was going to be arrested.

The video shows police blocking one of the main exits, forming a barrier on the stairway that leads to the exit.

A number of young people can be seen screaming and beating on the ceiling of the stairway, trying to get out.

Police force civilian employees who helped organise the raid have already been suspended.

The club's owner has been charged with selling alcohol to minors.

Mexico City's mayor, Marcelo Ebard, said that there "were serious errors" in the police operation and that those at fault would be held accountable, according to a report in The Universal newspaper. But he also said the club's operators "acted with evident irresponsibility and outside the law."

"The city is in mourning," he said.

Source-Medindia
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