300 Storm Chiapas Hall; 6 Die

CHICOMUSELO, Mexico —  Six people, including a police chief and his deputy, were killed Tuesday after 300 people stormed the town hall in this remote Chiapas village, police said.

Police Chief Hernan Sepulveda Fernandez was shot three times in the back, while Deputy Moises Ramirez Ramos was hacked to death by machete-wielding protesters after both were taken hostage before dawn.

During a day marked by both confrontations and attempts at negotiations, four others, including two protesters and a bystander, also were killed, said police spokesman Pedro Cordoba Escobar.

Hundreds of farm workers also blocked a highway near here to demand that Mexico’s government recognize Amado Avendano, who has claimed that he was cheated out of the Chiapas governorship by election fraud.