Child among seven killed in Mexico water park attack

Gunmen stormed resort on last day of school holidays

A resort in Cortazar in central Mexico where seven people were murdered. EPA

Gunmen opened fire in a water park in central Mexico and killed six adults and a seven-year-old child, local authorities said.

Another person was seriously wounded in the attack, according to officials in the city of Cortazar.

Drug-related violence in the surrounding state of Guanajuato has surged in recent years.

The gunmen entered the La Palma swimming resort at 4.30pm local time on Saturday, a statement said.

They shot swimmers before ripping out security cameras and smashing up a shop.

Authorities are investigating a possible motive.

Army personnel and police have been sent to find the perpetrators.

Footage from eyewitnesses showed victims on the ground and people taking cover from the gunfire.

Mexican news television channels aired footage of panicked adults and children at the scene after the shooting.

The attack occurred on the last day of the spring school holidays.

The resort, abutting a university campus, was swarmed by military and state police after the attack.

Guanajuato, a thriving industrial state, has become one of Mexico's most violent because of the dispute between the Santa Rosa de Lima crime group and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, dedicated to fuel theft and drug trafficking.

Mexico has registered more than 350,000 murders since the government sent the army to fight drug cartels in 2006, most of them blamed on criminal gangs.