Two Americans dead, one injured in Mexico kidnapping: Official

Two of the four US citizens kidnapped after crossing over the border into northeastern Mexico have been found dead, a senior Mexican official has said.

The attorney general’s office confirmed that of the four abductees “two of them are dead, one person is injured and the other is alive”, Tamaulipas state governor Americo Villarreal told the Mexican president by telephone at a news conference Tuesday.

The governor did not share any additional details about where or how the individuals were found.

A Mexican official told the Reuters news agency on Tuesday that of the four hostages, two men had been found dead.

A woman and another man were alive, safe and in the hands of authorities, the official said.

Mexican President Manuel Lopez Obrador said one person was in custody in relation to the kidnapping in Tamaulipas, which has long been one of the most violent states in Mexico.

The four US citizens had crossed from Texas into Matamoros, Mexico on Friday, when their white minivan was fired upon in what authorities said was the crossfire of rival cartel groups.

A video later emerged showing the four hostages loaded into the back of a pick-up truck by armed men. Mexican officials said a Mexican woman was also killed in Friday’s crossfire.