Two men arrested in strangling deaths of three sister nurses
A funeral wreath is displayed at the entrance of the San Isidro cemetery near a sign that reads in Spanish: "There will be no access to the cemetery on May 8, 9 and 10" in Mexico City, Friday, May 8, 2020. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano) AP/AAP
Two men have been arrested for the strangling deaths of three sisters who worked in Mexico's government hospital system, but authorities have ruled out any link to nationwide assaults on medical staff as anxiety over the coronavirus pandemic escalates.
Initial evidence shows the suspects, a nurse and a municipal market worker in their 20s, planned to rob the women, whose bodies were found in a house in the city of Torreón, said Miguel Ángel Riquelme, governor of the northern border state of Coahuila.
The killings had nothing to do with the sisters' hospital work, Mr Riquelme said late Friday.
The San Isidro cemetery, that the city's authorities ordered temporarily closed to the public to keep crowds away as a measure to limit the spread of COVID-19 disease, is seen from the air in Mexico City, Sunday, May 10, 2020. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano) AP/AAP
Two of the sisters were nurses for the Mexican Social Security Institute and the third was a hospital administrator.
The sisters, who were between 48 and 59 years old, were killed Thursday, according to the Social Security Institute.
In sporadic incidents in other parts of Mexico, nurses have had been hit, kicked off public transport or had cleaning fluids poured on them because of fears they might spread the new coronavirus.
A nurse holds a poster that reads in Spanish 'Take care us to take care' during a protest outside of a public hospital in Mexico City, Monday, April 13, 2020. Public health workers demand more protective gear and training in a protest near a public hospital in the capital. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano) AP/AAP
Mexican authorities have denounced the attacks and urged medical personnel not to wear uniforms or scrubs on the street to avoid being targeted.
Many Mexicans have praised their medical workers, describing them as heroes as hospitals treat an increasing number of people suffering from the COVID-19 disease.
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