MEXICO CITY -- Prosecutors in northern Mexico have brought terrorism charges against two motorcyclists because their loud exhaust pipes backfired and caused a sound like gunshots that sent a crowd into a panicked stampede, officials said Wednesday.

It was the second time in less than a year that people have been charged in Mexico under terrorism statutes for spooking the populace in areas of the country hit by drug violence. Officials say state criminal codes often lack lesser but more appropriate charges to handle situations involving acts that may be irresponsible but are hardly criminal.

The two motorcyclists, Juan Ramon Munguia and Enrique Trevino Rivera, were leaving their workplace Saturday evening at a store near the main square of the northern city of San Luis Potosi, where an Easter week festival was being held. READ ON

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