Cancun, Mexico, bar bombed; 8 dead

CANCUN, Mexico (AP) - Six women and two men died Tuesday in a fire at a bar frequented by locals in the Mexican resort of Cancun, and bar employees have told police that unidentified men tossed gasoline bombs at the establishment.

Quintana Roo state Attorney General Francisco Alor said the cause of the blaze is still under investigation. It erupted in the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday at the Castillo del Mar bar in a low-income area far from the city's tourist zone.

"According to unofficial information, which we have not corroborated, two vehicles pulled up ... both black, and apparently six armed men tossed Molotov cocktails," Alor told a local radio station

Alor said experts were examining the wreckage of the bar.

The bar offered table-dances and other entertainment, and had a rough reputation. Alor said the bar had had problems in the past, but did not offer any details.

Businesses throughout Mexico are often hit up for protection money by drug cartels, which sometimes set fire to those that refuse to pay.

Cancun has largely avoided the bloodshed in which more 28,000 people have died in drug-related violence since late 2006. However, drug cartels and immigrant traffickers operate in the area.