Mexico club crush kills 12

At least 12 people died and 18 were injured after hundreds of young party-goers rushed to get out of a crowded nightclub in Mexico.

Nine youths and three police officers were asphyxiated in a scramble to leave the News Divine disco in Mexico City after a tip-off from its owner that police were in the building, police said.

Police chief Joel Ortega said: "More than 1,000 people left in a stampede for the emergency exit. The exit is very small and that's why people were asphyxiated."

The emergency exit was partly blocked by boxes, Ortega added.

Police arrested more than 30 youths and the nightclub's owner.

Ortega said the crackdown on the party to celebrate the end of the school year was not a surprise raid and the owner had been told about the operation.

Selling alcohol to people under 18 is illegal in Mexico and nightclubs are only allowed to operate within certain time limits. However, those laws are said to be largely ignored by bar and nightclub owners.

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