Three innocent US women and six children have allegedly been slaughtered by a drug cartel while traveling to Mexico for a wedding, the New York Post has reported.
The attack was a highway ambush in the Mexican border state of Sonora on Monday, November 4, in the town of Bavispe, approximately 100 miles south of the Arizona border.
Kendra Lee Miller, a relative of the victims, told NBC News that the dead included 29-year-old Christina Marie Langford Johnson, 43-year-old Dawna Langford, 11-year-old Trevor Langford, two-year-old Rogan Langford, 30-year-old Rhonita Miller, 12-year-old Howard Miller, 10-year-old Krystal Miller, eight-month-old twins, Titus and Tiana Miller.
The family were all members of a Mormon community living in a settlement known as La Mora - a community founded by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Another relative of the victims, Jhon LeBaron, also took to Facebook to share images of the dead. He captioned the post: "Just got word both my Aunt Dawna and Christina have been killed, the Cartel murdered them and several of their babies ? They left 6 of Dawnas kids on the side of the road and took off. [sic]"
He added: "My aunt Dawnas son Devon hid some of his shot and wounded siblings in the bushes and ran all the way back to town for help. Please pray that the murderers are caught & brought to justice. [sic]"
Meanwhile, another survivor of the attack, who goes by the name Lafe Langford Jr, shared a video of the burned-out fuselage of one of the cars on social media.
Commenting on the tragic news, US Ambassador Christopher Landau tweeted in Spanish that: "The safety of our fellow citizens is our top priority. I am closely following the situation in the mountains between Sonora and Chihuahua."
CNN reports that the Mexican government is struggling to maintain public security amid a wave of brutal homicides committed by drug trafficking organizations, with a convoy of 13 police officers killed in an ambush in Aguililla earlier this week.
