Mexico nightclub shooting: Australians describe horrifying attack as they fled shooting

An Australian man said he escaped being struck with a bullet in a Mexico nightclub shooting on Monday. At least five people were killed and 15 others were wounded when a gunman opened fire at Mexico's Playa del Carmen resort during the BPM electronic music festival.

Twenty two-year-old Charlie Cohen was among the hundreds of people attending the event. He said a man next to him was struck with a bullet in his arm. He could hear bullets flying over his head, he added.

Speaking with Fairfax Media (via The Age), Cohen said, "I dived into the girls' bathroom face down, I was just completely flat on the floor. Bullets were actually flying over my head. I swear, I could see them and hear them flying past me." Cohen is a student from Caulfield, Melbourne.

Cohen added that another man was lying close to him. The man was unconscious and bleeding from the neck. "He was on the podium at the time in the club," Cohen said. "He was unconscious and I think his girlfriend was trying to do CPR on him. I don't know how that went."

A Canadian, an Italian and a Mexican were among those killed in the horrific incident, according to Quintana Roo State Attorney General Miguel Angel Pech Cen. The nationalities of the two victims have not been made clear. Cen had said earlier that another Canadian and a Colombian had also died in the attack.

Tim Mullen, from Perth, was at the event with his friends. He said at first he and his friends thought the shooting "was part of the production of a show." He added, "We were looking for some pyrotechnics or some fireworks, but as the screams started around the pops, we sort of felt that something a little more sinister was going on."

According to initial investigations, Cen said the gunfire seemed to have stemmed from an argument that followed when the attacker was stopped from entering the nightclub. Shots were fired all over the place during the struggle. Four suspects have been taken into custody for their alleged role in the Mexico nightclub shooting.

Speaking with AAP (via 9News), a spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs said there were no reports of any Australians being harmed in the attack. He added that the Australian embassy in Mexico was in close contact with security agencies.