Jalisco Governor Pablo Lemus asked residents to stay home and suspended public transportation.
Telemundo News reported that Guadalajara, Mexico’s second largest city, was paralyzed on Sunday following the death of Osegueras Cervantes. Until the evening, people remained sheltered in their places and the shops remained closed.
Jim Beck, a Minnesotan who has been going to Puerto Vallarta for more than 20 years, told NBC News that he always felt safe in the city, until Sunday morning.
“Today, everyone was running through the streets in panic and terror as cars were exploding everywhere,” he said.
He and his partner went out to have breakfast but found taxis and a bus that had blown up and blocked the street. They rushed back to the hotel and have been locked in since around 10 a.m., he said.
Beck and his partner had hoped to return to the United States on Wednesday, but are not sure if they will be able to do so. His hotel has no restaurant or bar and the food they brought for his guests has run out, he said. A park near the hotel that is usually bustling with activity is empty.
With nowhere to go, he and other hotel guests watched the riots from the rooftop.
“There were probably 20 of the different small businesses around us that we had to look at, unfortunately, the flames and then the smoke rising into the air and to see this beautiful little romantic area of ​​downtown disappear. It’s been very sad,” he said.
Beau Yotty, who traveled to Puerto Vallarta for a wedding, is not sure when he will be able to return home to Arizona. His Sunday flight was cancelled, the next one doesn’t leave until Thursday and the road to the airport is blocked, he said.
“We don’t know when we’re leaving, we don’t know our safety, we don’t know if someone can come in in the middle of the night, we have no idea what’s going on, so we’re just trying to hold on,” he told NBC News.
He said the lack of information is worrying.
“We just want to get to the airport and get home,” Yotty said.
