Nineteen killed at rooster fight in Mexico

Armed police guard the scene of a clandestine rooster fight in Mexico.
Armed police guard the scene of a clandestine rooster fight in Mexico where gunmen killed 19 people. -EPA

Nineteen people have been killed after gunmen burst into a clandestine rooster fight in western Mexico, prosecutors in the western state of Michoacan say.

The attack occurred late on Sunday near the town of Zinapecuaro, some 240km northwest of the capital Mexico City.

The dead include 16 men and three women, and a number of people were wounded in the attack.

The office said drug cartels and gangs had been fighting in the area.

Michoacan has been the scene of a longstanding turf battle between local drug gangs and a cartel from the neighbouring state of Jalisco. 

The fighting has included the use of bomb-dropping drones, landmines and home-made armoured cars.

Cockfighting, while illegal in many areas, remains a popular pastime in parts of Mexico, though the fights between roosters are usually held clandestinely.