A family of US tourists in Mexico were held up by gunmen in Mexico on Tuesday. The thieves then flew off in the plane, according to police.

The robbers attacked the plane as the American couple and their two young daughters were about to take off from a hotel airstrip in the Baja California beach town of Mulege. The men pulled a car in front of the Cessna Stationair, knocked out one of its windows, and forced the tourists out at gunpoint. They then set fire to the car and escaped in the aircraft.

US officials said they were aware of the incident but had not yet been in contact with the victims.