8 Killed, 18 Wounded in Massacre at Mexican Bar

A band of armed men shot and killed eight people in a bar in northern Mexico and wounded 18 others in the latest outbreak of violence in the country, officials said Saturday.

Authorities said the victims at the bar in Torreon, in the northern state of Coahuila near the U.S. border, ranged in age from 15 to 33.

A local official said four gunmen arrived in a van and "opened fire first on security personnel and then inside the bar."

More than 22,700 people have died in spiraling drug violence in Mexico since President Felipe Calderon launched a military crackdown on organized crime, according to official figures.