Vista al Lago massacre
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vista al Lago, Ilopango, El Salvador
11:30 a.m. (CST)[1]
| Vista al Lago massacre | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | 13°42′02″N 89°05′41″W / 13.70056°N 89.09472°W Vista al Lago, Ilopango, El Salvador |
| Date | 10 October 2016 11:30 a.m. (CST)[1] |
| Target | Soldiers of the Salvadoran Air Force |
Attack type | Homicide, torture, false imprisonment |
| Deaths | 4 |
| Perpetrators | MS-13 |
| Convicted | 7 |
The Vista al Lago massacre occurred on 10 October 2016 in Vista al Lago, a neighborhood of the Salvadoran city of Ilopango. Four Salvadoran Air Force soldiers were murdered by gang members of MS-13 after boarding the wrong bus and arriving in the neighborhood. As of 2025[update], seven gang members have been convicted for their roles in the massacre.
On 10 October 2016, four soldiers of the Salvadoran Air Force—Nelson Omar Díaz López, Leónidas Enrique Morales Morán, Wilfredo Pérez López, and Saúl Humberto Turbín Gómez—traveled from Ahuachapán to the Ilopango International Airport to participate in an air force special forces event. In San Salvador, however, they boarded the wrong bus and were dropped off in the Vista a Lago neighborhood of Ilopango.[2] There, they were intercepted by several gang members of MS-13, one of the largest street gangs in El Salvador, who were monitoring who was entering and leaving the neighborhood.[3][4]
Gang members falsely imprisoned the soldiers and took them to a communal house in the neighborhood where they murdered the soldiers. The Salvadoran government described the murders as having been committed with "extreme barbarism" ("lujo de barbarie").[2] The soldiers' bodies were then buried near Changallo. The National Civil Police (PNC) found the bodies months later and described them has showing signs of torture.[5]
