Patron sets fire to bar after being kicked out, killing 11 people in Mexico border city, authorities say

Originally Published: 22 JUL 23 14:24 ET

By Karol Suarez and Ashley R. Williams, CNN

(CNN) — Authorities in Mexico are searching for a man who they say intentionally set a bar on fire after being kicked out, killing 11 people overnight near the Arizona border in the Mexican state of Sonora.

The fire broke out at 1:33 a.m. Saturday at a bar in San Luis Rio Colorado, near the United States border city of San Luis, Arizona, according to a statement from the Sonora Attorney General’s Office.

The person suspected of starting the fire, who authorities said had “a high degree of intoxication,” threw an object with fire at the drinking establishment’s doors after security staff removed him from the building, according to the statement translated from Spanish.

“According to versions (from) several witnesses, the person with a young, male appearance was disrespecting women in that bar and was expelled,” according to the statement.

The prosecutor’s office described the object thrown at the bar as “a kind of ‘Molotov’ cocktail, which caused the incident.”

The 11 people killed include seven men and four women, and four people with injuries were being treated in hospitals in San Luis Río Colorado and the US, according to the statement.

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