MEXICO CITY (AP) — Tourists were chased away by loud bangs at the international airport in the Mexican resort of Cancun on Monday.
Flights were briefly suspended after authorities received reports of gunfire at the airport, the National Guard said in a statement.
Videos posted on social media showed travelers climbing out of a terminal and charging.
The guard said there was no evidence shots had been fired and said the bang may have occurred after someone knocked over three free-standing vertical display stands in the terminal.
But the nervousness also reflects the spate of violence and deaths that have eroded Cancun’s reputation as a laid-back getaway.
Last week in Cancun, authorities found four bodies in the undergrowth and said they were part of a total of 13 murders committed by the Jalisco cartel at the resort since September. Most of the bodies were found on vacant lots or houses.
The Caribbean coast, Mexico’s largest source of tourist income, has been ravaged by rampant violence.
In January, prosecutors said the killings of two Canadians near Cancun were motivated by debts between international gangs believed to be involved in drug and arms trafficking.
In late October, further south in the laid-back tourist destination of Tulum, two tourists — one an Indian-born California travel blogger and the other German — were caught in the apparent crossfire of rival drug dealers and killed.