A group of friends from Perth visiting Mexico managed to escape alive after a gunman opened fire at a music festival on Monday, killing at least five people and injuring 15 others.
Hundreds of people packed the Blue Parrot club in the resort town of Playa Del Carmen, a coastal town along the Yucatán Peninsula, early on Monday morning, local time, when shots rang out.
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Reports of a shooting in Mexican resort town
There are reports that at least four people have been killed in a shooting at a Mexican music festival in Playa del Carmen south of Cancun. Vision: Seven News
Footage on social media showed dozens of people fleeing from the club, some carrying injured friends as they ran down the street.
'The whole club just got shot up'
![A group of Perth friends celebrate in Playa del Carmen in Mexico just hours before the shooting.](/web/20170117224626im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/s/n/t/7/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtsnt4.png/1484626171224.jpg)
Trent Cray was with a group of nine friends from Perth at the BPM Festival when a man started opening fire at festival-goers.
Mr Cray posted on social media "OMG the whole club just got shot up!!!"
"We all had to get on floor and wait. The gunman ran around then everyone legged it. I filmed the whole thing. We all ok."
He said he and his friends had been among a group of people who had run for their lives.
![Revelers dive for cover at the popular Mexican holiday spot.](/web/20170117224626im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/s/n/o/f/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtsnt4.png/1484626171181.jpg)
Nathan Hannah, a friend of Trent and also a finance broker from Perth, said he had already left the party when he saw his friends running.
"[They] told me that a gunman had rocked up," he told WAtoday.
![Trent Cray works as a finance broker in Perth.](/web/20170117224626im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/s/n/t/8/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtsnt4.png/1484612328356.jpg)
"I ran down the street trying to find the rest of the boys and there was a stampede of people everywhere.
Mr Hannah said his friend Jhana Green helped people who were gunned down by the shooter
"My friend helped a guy that was shot in the eye, I don't think he made it unfortunately.
![Perth man Nathan Hannah said he saw his friends running, saying there was a shooting.](/web/20170117224626im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/s/r/2/s/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.gtsnt4.png/1484612328356.jpg)
"But there were three security guards shot dead at the front from when the gunman had entered.
In a conversation on social media Mr Green told concerned friends he put his singlet on a man's gunshot wound.
'Bullets were flying over my head'
Melbourne man Charlie Cohen described how he narrowly avoided being shot at the beachside nightclub, saying he could see and hear bullets flying over his head.
He said a man standing next to him was shot in the arm
"I dived into the girls' bathroom face down, I was just completely flat on the floor," Mr Cohen told Fairfax Media from Mexico on Tuesday.
"Bullets were actually flying over my head. I swear, I could see them and hear them flying past me.
Mr Cohen also saw another man lying unconscious nearby, bleeding from his neck.
"He was on the podium at the time in the club. He was unconscious and I think his girlfriend was trying to do CPR on him. I don't know how that went."
Shooting sparks stampede
A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said "we are aware of reports of Australians in the area."
"If you have any concerns for the welfare of family and friends in the region, you should attempt to contact them directly."
Quintana Roo State Attorney General Miguel Angel Pech told a press conference that two Canadians, an Italian and a Colombian were killed. A woman died in the stampede to exit the club.
Mr Pech said the incident began when an armed person entered the Blue Parrot nightclub during the closing of the festival. Another person tried to stop the person, sparking a gunfight that drew in security staff.
Four people were arrested on suspicion of being involved in the incident.
The BPM organisers said three members of their security team were killed in the shooting, which it said was perpetrated by a lone shooter. There was no official confirmation of the death toll, and a Quintana Roo state government spokesperson said there would be a press conference later on Monday.
"We are overcome with grief over this senseless act of violence and we are cooperating fully with local law enforcement and government officials as they continue their investigation," BPM said in a statement posted on its Facebook page.
Australian DJ Danny Chien, better known as Wax Motif, wrote on Twitter that he watched the incident unfold.
Gunmen opened fire at Blue Parrot in Playa Del Carmen at BPM . Hope everyone is safe and stay off the streets please 🙏🏼
— Wax Motif (@WaxMotif) January 16, 2017
Guy 5m in front of us got shot. We all jumped the fence to get out and saw at least 4 bodies down on the escape. #BlueParrot
— Wax Motif (@WaxMotif) January 16, 2017
"It happened right in front of us. Still can't believe it was real," he said.
"We all jumped the fence to get out and saw at least 4 bodies down on the escape."
Panic caught on video
In one video filmed by a witness, a man shouts "gun, he's got a gun" as a group of people begin to run down a street.
Further videos show police arriving on the scene and blocking off a short street that leads to the club. Upbeat electronic music continues to play as medical teams wheel injured revellers into waiting ambulances on stretchers.
Numerous photos and videos published by local media show injured revellers bleeding profusely as they are helped by friends.
As dawn broke in Playa Del Carmen, heavily-armed police guarded the scene, which was blocked off by police tape.
The BPM festival, which was entering its 10th year, has grown to be one of the most important electronic music events in the world, with top DJs flying in every January to play the clubs of Playa del Carmen along Mexico's Caribbean coast.
The shooting represents a major blow to Mexico's tourism industry, which has been one of the few bright spots in the economy thanks to a weak peso exchange rate.
- with Megan Levy, Georgina Mitchell