Shawdesh Desk:

Gunmen burst into a Mexican strip club in a hail of bullets and killed at least 28 people as they trapped revellers inside and started a raging fire, officials said Wednesday.

Many of the dead were dancers who worked there, according to managers.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador condemned the ‘shameful’ attack in the city of Coatzacoalcos, and said ‘federal authorities would investigate evidence it may have stemmed from collusion between local authorities and organised crime.’

The Tuesday night attack, which also left nine people badly wounded, is the latest to rock the state of Veracruz, a flashpoint in turf wars between Mexico’s rival drug cartels and a hotbed of political corruption.

Survivors said gunmen sprayed bullets when they descended on the bar Caballo Blanco, means White Horse in English, then blocked the exits and set the club alight.

Because of the loud reggae on music pounding inside, many patrons and dancers did not notice the attack until the bar was in flames, they said.

Authorities said many of the victims died of smoke inhalation. It was not immediately clear whether some died of gunshot wounds.

‘They arrived in several vehicles, with rifles and pistols. They threatened the security guards at the door and took control of the entrance,’ one survivor told an AFP reporter, speaking on condition of anonymity, as frantic relatives gathered at the bar looking for their loved ones.

Veracruz governor Cuitlahuac Garcia tweeted that authorities had identified one of the attackers as Ricardo ‘N’ — Mexican law bars the release of suspects’ full names — adding that he was a repeat offender known as ‘La Loca,’ The Crazy One in English translation.

The suspect was previously arrested last month, but was released by state prosecutors within 48 hours, Garcia said.

Veracruz is one of the most violent states in the country.

Its location on the Gulf of Mexico makes it a strategic route for drug cartels and for human traffickers bringing undocumented migrants to the United States.