20 Mexican tourists missing after Acapulco kidnap

MEXICO CITY: A heavily armed gang kidnapped about 20 Mexican tourists in the beach resort city of Acapulco earlier this week and their whereabouts are still unknown, police said Saturday.

The tourists from Morelia in neighboring Michoacan state were "deprived of their liberty" Thursday when they were overtaken by an armed group, prosecutors said in a statement, adding they did not know the identity of the gunmen or the fate of those abducted.

"On Thursday night, about 20 people were abducted by armed men as they arrived in Acapulco. There is no immediate word on there whereabouts, the suspected kidnappers or their motive," Guerrero police investigator Fernando Monreal told media.

The prosecutor's office in the southern state of Guerrero earlier said 22 tourists had been nabbed. But police said at least two of the abducted people managed to escape.