objective is to keep them (students) safe

Educational officials in the northeastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas authorized schools in the Gulf port of Tampico to end classes early amid growing gangland violence in the city, the municipal education chief said Thursday.

“The objective is to keep them (students) safe,” Lorena Vazquez told reporters.

She said the early dismissal policy will apply to at least 40 elementary schools in Tampico, where a score of people have died in Tampico over the past two weeks in shootouts, chases and murders-for-hire related to organized crime.

An ongoing turf war between the Gulf drug cartel and former allies Los Zetas has left hundreds dead across Tamaulipas, which borders Texas.

Posted in: Educational officials in the northeastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas authorized schools in the Gulf port of Tampico to end classes early