SAN SALVADOR : Six people were shot dead and four wounded in a suspected gang attack on a bus near El Salvador’s international airport on Friday, police said.
The targeted attack happened around noon on a stretch of road linking Oscar Arnulfo Romero airport with the capital San Salvador. Four bodies were found inside the bus, which had left from the eastern city of Usulutan, and two more were left on the side of the road.
The attackers fled, Mauricio Ramirez, a deputy director of the National Civilian Police, told reporters at the scene. The suspect gang members were disguised as road repair men, witnesses said. Another senior police official, Rigoberto Pleites, described the grisly attack as an ‘act of terrorism against society.’
Homicides in this Central American country were running at 14 per day until a truce was reached between the two main gangs in March 2012, which helped halve the murder rate. But extortion and other crimes persist. The notorious ‘mara’ street gangs are believed have around 60,000 members, 10,000 of whom are behind bars.