Four killed in El Salvador bus shoot-out

San Salvador: Four people were killed on Thursday in a shoot-out that erupted as gang members attempted to hold up a bus on a highway in eastern El Salvador, the police said.

Officers said a group of at least five assailants boarded the bus near the city of Cojutepeque, brandishing weapons and threatening the passengers.

One of the passengers, 41-year-old private security guard Pablo Vela, drew a revolver and shot dead two of the assailants.

Four other people were wounded in the shooting that ensued, including Vela and another passenger who later died of wounds.

Gangs have been blamed for a wave of violent crime in El Salvador, where 1,194 murders have been committed so far this year, 481 in March alone.