Salt Lake City(ABC4) -Mexican army kills leader of Mexican army Jalisco New Generation MenuCartel members across the state of Jalisco launched a massive violent response on Sunday. ABC4 spoke with a Utah woman who lives in Puerto Vallarta to see firsthand what’s happening in the area.
The woman, who chose to remain anonymous for safety reasons, said she has traveled to Puerto Vallarta every winter for the past seven years. She had been there alone for three weeks, and her husband had only arrived a few days before.
“This morning we were getting ready to walk to a nearby church,” she told ABC4. “I looked out and saw a huge dark cloud billowing over the bay and wondered if it was a storm cloud or if it was from the fire. I opened the balcony door and immediately knew it was the fire.”
She said as she continued to scan the horizon, she saw smoke coming from the north and south. She ran to the other side of the house and walked outside to see seven different plumes of smoke coming from different places.
“That’s when we knew something very intentional was going on,” she said. “We don’t know the cause, we just know something is wrong.”
She added: “Standing on the balcony and seeing the flames in the distance and then suddenly seeing them pop up right in front of me. I thought, OK, I’m not an observer anymore. I’m in the midst of this.”
Within 30 minutes, she and her husband heard a loud bang, “like a generator exploding,” she said. They soon realized that each explosion was a new car bomb going off.
She said two people set off within three blocks of where they lived.
“We put on our tennis shoes, packed our passports and laptops into our backpacks and were ready to go,” she told ABC4. “But with bombs and fires happening everywhere, it seemed too dangerous to leave.”
The couple’s friends in Puerto Vallarta, who live in the same building as them, told them not to leave and to stay indoors. They all gathered together to watch what was going on and try to figure out what to do next.
“For about two hours, all we did was watch and listen to various fires come on and then eventually go out,” she said. “Then videos and images started appearing online, and we saw people being stopped on the road, being pushed out of their cars, their cars being bombed and set on fire. And then we started hearing stories of people being shot at Costco, cars being blown up, and Costco being set on fire.”
She added that several small shops in the town were also set on fire.
“Literally, the horizon looks like a war zone,” she told ABC4.
The bomber was reportedly riding a motorcycle, carrying a backpack and was the only person on the street. She said they get nervous every time they hear the sound of a motorcycle outside.
“We started hearing a motorcycle and then heard a loud bang and looked out and saw a motorcyclist crashed right outside our front door,” she said. “His helmet and shoes were across the street and he was obviously injured, but he was wearing a backpack like all car bombers do, so we were afraid to even go out and help him.”
Car explosions and fires rocked Puerto Vallarta as Jalisco cartel members launched a massive violent response.
Over time, they learn that this was all allegedly in revenge for the death of drug cartel leader Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, also known as “el mancho“. The U.S. State Department told U.S. citizens in the region shelter in placeflights in and out of Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta were canceled.
A curfew was imposed in the city and the marina was closed.
By midday, most of the explosions had stopped and most of the fires had been extinguished, she said. The sky is clearing again, but no one can go out as the city remains on lockdown.
“I could still see a few smoldering fires a mile or two away, but there was nothing nearby,” she told ABC4. “Two large warships were patrolling the bay and military helicopters were flying very low, probably looking for potential bombers.”
She said while they didn’t see much of a police presence during the initial bombings, as time went on they started seeing more police cars and hearing more sirens.
“Residents and visitors were watching from a distance on their balconies,” she told ABC4. “Even those who were right next to the fire were standing on top of their buildings watching cars and buildings burn.”
She added that cartel members focused their explosions on buses and cars because most buildings there were made of concrete.
“The whole city fell into an eerie silence,” she told ABC4. “The worst sound now is the occasional passing motorcycle. The best sound is the constant patrol of military helicopters.”
Part of the reason for today’s destruction, she said, is the impact it will have on the city and the country. She told ABC4 cartel violence would frighten people, hinder tourism and destroy the livelihoods of many who live there.
“It’s a beautiful city with great natural resources and amazing people,” she said. “A lot of Americans think it’s always dangerous here, but to this day I have never felt hurt in any way, not in all my trips to Mexico, including Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Cabo, Guanajuato and Mexico City.”
She added that she prayed that today was an isolated incident that would not shut down the country or destroy its people.
Flights to and from Puerto Vallarta are currently canceled. Taxi and ride-sharing services are also suspended in the area. The full list of affected areas is can be found here.
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