A Montreal man who was inside the Mexico nightclub where two Canadians were apparently killed described the scene as “like a movie.”

The shooting attack took place at 2:30 a.m. at the Blue Parrot nightclub, one of the BPM electronic music festival's venues in Playa del Carmen, just south of Cancun.

Five people were killed in total. Mexican authorities are reporting two Canadians are among the dead; Global Affairs Canada has confirmed ones of those deaths and is working to confirm the second. GAC added that at least two Canadians are among the 15 people injured.

“We went out with a couple of friends to Blue Parrot,” said William Om. “We were just having fun like a regular night.”

“I heard gunshots. I didn’t realize it was real gunshots until one of my friends pulled me down and told me to lie on the ground because it was real gunshots going through the nightclub,” he said, adding that it was his first night in Mexico after arriving from a trip to Paris.

“People were lying down on the ground screaming, yelling. I lay down on the ground for not even a minute… everything happened so fast… we ran and crossed a fence. The other side of the fence was the beach,” he said. He said he and his friends ran along the sand to evade the danger.

“Everyone was going crazy, it was like we were in a movie,” he said.

Quintana Roo Attorney General Miguel Angel Pech said a lone gunman apparently entered the nightclub and began to exchange fire with another person inside. Festival security personnel tried to stop the shooting and came under fire.

Pech said it was not any kind of terrorist attack.

Several of the dead appear to have been part of the security detail at the 10-day BPM electronic music festival.

“Quebecers are used to going to Mexico to relax and have fun, take a vacation,” said Om. “I’m still in shock.”

Organizers released a statement early Monday expressing sadness at the violence and the loss of its employees.

"Three members of the BPM security team were among those whose lives were lost while trying to protect patrons inside the venue," the statement said.

"We are overcome with grief over this senseless act of violence and we are cooperating fully with local law enforcement and government officials as they continue their investigation," the statement said.

Canadian citizens in Playa del Carmen requiring emergency consular assistance should contact the Embassy of Canada in Mexico at +52 (55) 5724-7900 or email sos@international.gc.ca.
 

With files from The Associated Press