Nightclub fire in eastern Mexico kills 23

Twenty-three people were killed and some 10 others seriously injured when a nightclub in eastern Mexico was set on fire Tuesday night, local authorities said.

The deadly fire burned in a bar in Coatzacoalcos, a major port city in the southern part of Veracruz state, the state attorney general's office said in a statement at midnight.

Police officers stand guard outside Caballo Blanco bar (White Horse bar) where 23 people were killed by a fire in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz State, Mexico, on August 28, 2019. [Photo: VCG/AFP/Victoria Razo]

Eight women and 15 men lost their lives in the incident, while 13 others were being treated at hospitals with severe injuries, it added.

Local authorities are investigating the cause of the fire and whether it was deliberately set.

"The state attorney general strongly condemns what could be a malicious attack," the statement said.

Governor of Veracruz Cuitlahuac Garcia said on Twitter that "the artful crime of a few moments ago in Coatzacoalcos will not go unpunished."

According to local media, the fire broke out after attackers rushed into the bar and threw Molotov cocktails.