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A6 WORLD NEWS
Friday 28 OctOber 2022

Mexican police say drug lord killed 20 townspeople

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Au- they who carried out the
thorities said Thursday the mass execution and tried
massacre of 20 townspeo- to make it appear as if an-
ple in southern Mexico ap- other group,” Mejia said.
pears to have been the Local media had reported
work of a drug lord who that the Hurtado brothers
used social media to try to may have been upset be-
blame a rival gang. cause the Totolapan may-
The new revelations illus- or and the group of vigilan-
trate how Mexican drug tes he apparently headed
cartels are increasingly us- had rejected the capos’
ing social media to appor- choice of another man to
tion blame for attacks and lead the town.
mislead authorities and the Hours after the Oct. 5 shoot-
public. ings, a group of armed men
Ricardo Mejia, Mexico’s as- appeared in a video filmed
sistant secretary of public around dusk, claiming to
safety, said Thursday that be the Tequileros and say-
authorities had raided five ing they were retaking con-
properties belonging to the trol of Totolapan, which is
Hurtado brothers, who op- near the mountains where
erate under the name Fa- much of Mexico’s opium
milia Michoacana cartel. poppy crop is grown.
Those raids found ranches, Residents carry the coffin of Wilmer Rojas the day after he was killed in a mass shooting in San With poor lighting and
luxury homes and a me- Miguel Totolapan, Mexico, Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022. Associated Press sound, the Tequileros video
nagerie including a tiger, was unlike the more slickly
a zebra, antelopes and shadowy video said they José Alfredo Hurtado, who men entered the town and produced cartel videos
stuffed wild animals. carried out the attack and leads the Familia Michoac- opened fire on a meeting that have become the
The Oct. 5 attack in the were retaking Totolapan. ana along with his brother the mayor was holding with norm, in which well-armed
town of Totolapan killed The Tequileros had long ter- Johnny, posted a video other officials apparently groups of masked cartel
the town’s mayor, his fa- rorized the town, but had several days later saying he members of a vigilante gunmen regularly threaten
ther and 18 other men. Re- been chased out years was the intended target of group. rivals and authorities, and
sponsibility for the attack ago by a vigilante group the shooting and had nar- But Mejia said Thursday claim or reject credit for kill-
was originally claimed in a believed to have been rowly escaped. that the capo’s own group ings.
video attributed to a near- backed by the Familia Mi- “The attack was aimed at probably killed them. The Tequileros video now
extinct gang known as the choacana, which domi- me,” Hurtado said describ- “According to a serious appears to have been a
Tequileros. Men in the dark, nates the area. ing the events in which gun- line of investigation, it was fake.q

African health official: Ebola in Uganda is under control

By RODNEY MUHUMUZA contagious diseases like Health officials in the dis- there and in a neighboring breyesus, director-general
and HAJARAH NALWADDA Ebola. trict of Mubende, where district as part of efforts to of the World Health Organi-
Associated Press Uganda declared an out- the outbreak began, were stop the spread of Ebola. zation, expressed concern
KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — break of the Sudan strain of not quick to confirm Ebola, But the outbreak is spread- over rising cases in new
Uganda’s Ebola outbreak is Ebola on Sept. 20. The epi- partly because the dis- ing in Kampala after some geographical areas in a se-
under control, a top public center is a rural community ease’s symptoms can mim- Ebola patients traveled to ries of tweets late Wednes-
health official in Africa said in central Uganda about ic those of the more preva- seek treatment there. Six day. “Ebola control in ur-
Thursday, noting that local 150 kilometers (93 miles) lent malaria. A lockdown schoolchildren attending ban areas can be complex
health authorities are do- from the capital, Kampala. has since been imposed three different schools are & requires coordinated &
ing well to trace most con- among at least 15 con- sustained efforts to interrupt
tacts. “The situation is not firmed Ebola cases in Kam- transmission,” he said.
getting out of control,” said pala, the health minister re- There is no approved vac-
Dr. Ahmed Ogwell, act- ported Wednesday, raising cine for the Sudan strain of
ing director of the Africa fears of contagion. Ebola, but two candidate
Centers for Disease Control At least 170 contacts of the vaccines are due to be
and Prevention. “We have six schoolchildren are be- tested in clinical trials that
good visibility of all the con- ing monitored, Health Min- officials say will launch in
tacts.” ister Jane Ruth Aceng said. days.
About 98 percent of 2,694 Administrators at two of The current outbreak of Eb-
documented contacts the three Ebola-affected ola, which manifests as a vi-
people exposed to Ebola schools told the AP Thurs- ral hemorrhagic fever, has
by a confirmed patient are day they would not shut so far infected 109 people
being monitored, Ogwell down completely. But they and killed 31, including four
said, adding that it “gives suspended learning for health workers, according
comfort that we know the those classes attended by to the Africa CDC.
evolution of this particular Pupils wash their hands before entering class at the Green Ebola-sickened children, Ebola is spread by contact
outbreak.” Valley Primary School, one of three to report cases of Ebola in one of whom has since with bodily fluids of an in-
Tracing contacts is key to the capital, in Kampala, Uganda Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022. died. fected person or contami-
stemming the spread of Associated Press Tedros Adhanom Ghe- nated materials. q