6 die as locals tackle gang

DOZENS of armed villagers surrounded the home of a suspected crime gang in southern Mexico, setting off a gun battle that killed a child, a woman and four men.

The confrontation took place after a town assembly decided to arm 90 villagers and send them to threaten the group allegedly behind cattle thefts, rapes and murders.

The people in the house responded by opening fire first.

11-year-old Reynaldo Hernandez was killed in the crossfire in Santa Cruz Tepenixtlahuaca, a village about an eight-hour drive from the state capital, Oaxaca.

Two villagers were detained and police seized an arsenal of rifles and shotguns from those who engaged in the firefight, Lopez said.

Mob justice in remote towns is not unheard of.