Mayor suspected of massacre arrested in Honduras

A mayor in Honduras suspected of involvement in a massacre of five people was arrested on Tuesday and is being held in the capital pending an investigation, police said.

Victor Meza, who runs the town of Reitoca, 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of the capital Tegucigalpa, was believed to lead a gang that carried out the killings that occurred last Sunday, detective service chief Jose Ponce told a news conference.

On that day, unidentified gunmen fired on a vehicle carrying members of a local church, killing one of the occupants and wounding another.

When other people tried to transfer the body and the wounded person to hospital, another attack was mounted that killed four people.

Honduras and neighboring El Salvador and Guatemala are considered some of the most dangerous countries in the world not at war.

So far this year, 18 multiple homicides have taken place in Honduras, resulting in more than 70 deaths.

The country has a murder rate of 60 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, more than six times higher than the global average of nine per 100,000.

Source: AFP