Drug-violence rumors disrupt schools in Nuevo Laredo, Matamoros
NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico (AP) - Rumors of impending drug-gang violence prompted schools to close and residents to stay off the streets Tuesday in two northern Mexican border cities.
The rumors, spread during the past week through e-mail and social-network postings, have referred to imminent gunfights between government forces and drug cartel gunmen in the streets of Nuevo Laredo and Matamoros.
There are no official reports that any such clashes ever took place - but the rumors alone have caused widespread fear in the two cities, both of which border Texas.
More than 20 schools ended classes early Tuesday as the latest wave of rumors hit. Teachers called parents, instructing them to pick up their children early at school and pedestrian and motor traffic declined notably in the city.
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