Two people believed to be drug dealers have reportedly died following a shooting at a five-star hotel in Cancun that is popular with American tourists.

The shooting broke out around 3pm Thursday when armed men allegedly carrying machine guns fired shots on the beach area of the Hyatt Ziva Riviera Cancun resort in Mexico.

Guests were told to seek shelter in their hotel rooms and barricade the doors, according to Mike Sington, a Twitter user whose biography says he is an executive at NBC Universal.

Another vacationer, speaking on the basis on anonymity, told CNN guests ‘manned the entrances to the basement and were given metal sticks, even a pedestal bathroom sink, to defend ourselves.’ 

Police said the shooting stemmed from conflict between members of hostile groups of drug dealers. Although two alleged drug dealers were killed in the incident, ‘there are no seriously injured or kidnapped tourists.’

Hotel staff are seen telling guests that the shooter 'has been apprehended'

Hotel staff are seen telling guests that the shooter 'has been apprehended'

Hotel staff are seen telling guests that the shooter ‘has been apprehended’

Guests were hiding in the dark at the hotel in Cancun following the reported shooting

Guests were hiding in the dark at the hotel in Cancun following the reported shooting

Guests were hiding in the dark at the hotel in Cancun following the reported shooting

Witnesses allege that loud gunshots were fired on the beach, causing panicked vacationers to run into the resort.

‘Thought glass broke at a restaurant, then firework sounds, then everyone from the beach [came] running. Got into a room and stayed,’ hotel guest Brian Minish Malinconico told The Daily Beast

Another guest, Vincente Garcia, who claimed to be ‘very close to the gunshots’ said they were ‘quick shots which made me think it was like a machine gun’. 

‘He was on the beach and there was someone with a machine gun that started firing,’ echoed Andrew Krop, whose husband Eric is at the resort.   

Several people said on Twitter that guests were told by staff to hide at the Hyatt Ziva Cancun hotel because of an active shooter.  

The U.S. embassy in Mexico said on Thursday consulate officials were looking into social media reports of shots being fired at the hotel. 

A U.S. embassy media representative told Reuters by email that the U.S. consulate in Merida in the Yucatan was trying to confirm the reports.

Hyatt did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment. 

However, a spokesperson for the hotel chain issued a statement to The Daily Beast reading: ‘The safety and wellbeing of guests and colleagues is always a top priority…We understand the hotel team immediately engaged local authorities who are on the scene investigating the situation. 

‘The hotel team is taking steps in an effort to ensure the safety of guests and colleagues, and further questions may be directed to local authorities.’   

Sington later tweeted that guests were taken out of hiding and brought to the hotel lobby, where they cried and hugged each other

Sington later tweeted that guests were taken out of hiding and brought to the hotel lobby, where they cried and hugged each other

Sington later tweeted that guests were taken out of hiding and brought to the hotel lobby, where they cried and hugged each other 

Sington told Reuters by direct message that he was hiding with other guests in a dark area of the hotel and that staff had not explained what was happening. 

Other guests told him they heard gunshots and that a gunman had been on the beach, he said.

‘In hiding in the dark now. Was told active shooter on property. Paramedics are here,’ Sington said.

He later tweeted that guests were taken out of hiding and brought to the hotel lobby, where they cried and hugged each other. 

Hotel staff then told guests a shooter had been apprehended. 

The U.S. embassy in Mexico said on Thursday consulate officials were looking into social media reports of shots being fired at the hotel (file image)

The U.S. embassy in Mexico said on Thursday consulate officials were looking into social media reports of shots being fired at the hotel (file image)

The U.S. embassy in Mexico said on Thursday consulate officials were looking into social media reports of shots being fired at the hotel (file image)

Source: Daily Mail

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