Thousands of fans have turned out to mourn Mexican singer Valentin Elizade, murdered at the weekend in an apparent mob hit. A large crowd gathered in Elizade's home town Jitonhueca and watched as his coffin arrived by plane and was then given a police escort.
The twenty seven year old singer had just performed at a small open air festival in the country's border town of Reynosa on Saturday when the van he was travelling in with manager Mario Mendoza and driver Raymundo Ballesteros was ambushed and pumped with bullets. All three men were killed. Police have not as yet confirmed details of the killing, however.
Elizade was a practitioner of the accordion based music style known as norteno, banda, or grupero, and frequently covered the topic of drugs in his lyrics. A message on his website reads: "We appreciated all the displays of solidarity and affection from fans, friends and the media. Rest in peace, Valentin Elizalde".