By Ingrid Bachmann
Several journalists were tear-gassed and beaten by security at a hotel in Cancún that was the site of a Sunday explosion that left seven dead and 18 wounded, La Crónica de Hoy and El Universal report.
Hotel employees also attacked the reporters with fire extinguishers and broomsticks to stop them from entering the building with a delegation from the prosecutor’s office, which came to investigate the cause of the explosion, El Diario de Yucatán adds.
Reporter Verónica Alfonso and photographer Matías Matú were hospitalized after being attacked, La Jornada explains. According to Milenio, other reporters were also injured after the manager ordered security to close the hotel to the media. The media workers plan to press charges against the hotel and its staff.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
