Reporter covering grisly discovery of human remains in Mexico is shot dead moments before he was due to break the story live on air

A father-of-two became the third reporter to be murdered in Mexico within ten days when he was shot dead moments before he was supposed to go on air.

Israel Vázquez, a reporter for digital newspaper El Salmantino, was gunned down Monday seconds before he was set to do a live broadcast on the discovery of human remains on a street in Salamanca, a city in the central state of Guanajuato. 

The 31-year-old journalist arrived at the scene where the bodies were found, at 7am local time, in a car with news site's logo. 

Police believe the killers responsible for the human remains were still at the scene  when he arrived, and two men shot him 11 times. 

Vázquez was rushed to a local hospital where doctors tried to save his life before pronouncing him dead at 12:40pm.

Israel Vázquez, a reporter for digital newspaper El Salmantino, was shot dead Monday morning before he was set to do a live broadcast of the discovery of human remains on a street in Salamanca, a city in the central state of Guanajuato

First responders surround the body of Israel Vázquez, the third reporter killed in Mexico in a week and a half

Friends and family members bid farewell to Israel Vázquez, a Mexican reporter for digital newspaper El Salmantino. The 31-year-old was shot dead Monday moments before he was set to do a live broadcast report on the findings of human remains on a street in Salamanca, Guanajuato

Vázquez had been employed with El Salmantino for three years, reporting on crime incidents. His girlfriend, Noreyma Castillo, is also a reporter for the outlet.

'I am going to love you for the rest of my life, my Ran,' she wrote on Facebook. 'Come soon for me.' 

Friends and family members gathered Tuesday as Vázquez was laid to rest. As a farewell gesture for the huge soccer fan, Vázquez's coffin was taken to a field and placed in front of a net where one of his acquaintances bounced a ball off the casket before it rolled across the goal line. 

No arrests had been reported as of Wednesday morning. 

Guanajuato, a farming and industrial hub in north-central Mexico, saw 3,453 slayings in the first nine months of the year, more than any other of Mexico's 32 states. 

The state is the epicenter of turf wars between the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel. The three-year battle worsened with Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán's Sinaloa Cartel coming to the aid of the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel in recent months.

Jesús Alfonso Piñuelas, who worked as a report and photographer for several outlets, was executed November 2 in Cajeme, Sonora

Multimedios Televisión anchor Arturo Alba Medina was shot dead October 29 in the border city of Ciudad Juárez, across from El Paso, Texas

The Committee to Protect Journalists , Reporters Without Borders and the American Press Association on Tuesday urged Mexico to do more to investigate the killings and protect journalists. 

The CPJ ranks Mexico as the deadliest country in the world for journalists in 2020. At least 10 media workers have been assassinated in Mexico this year.

Jesús Alfonso Piñuelas, who worked as a reporter and photographer for several outlets, was executed November 2 in Cajeme, Sonora. His killer, identified as Francisco Bernardo, was arrested last Friday in the Sonora city of Ciudad Obregón. 

The suspect, whose last name was withheld by authorities in accordance with Mexico's due process law, was also wanted for the December 4, 2019 murder of José Cruz.

Julio Valdivia, a father-of-six and reporter for local newspaper El Mundo de Córdoba, was beheaded in September in the Mexican gulf coast state of Veracruz

Two of six children of slain journalist Julio Valdivia stand by his casket during a wake inside their home in Veracruz, Mexico, on September 10. Valdivia's decapitated body was found five miles from his home in the municipality of Tezonapa a day earlier

Multimedios Televisión anchor Arturo Alba Medina was shot dead October 29 in the border city of Ciudad Juárez, across from El Paso, Texas.

In early September, Julio Valdivia was beheaded in Mexico's Gulf coast state of Veracruz. Valdivia covered a rural zone for local newspaper El Mundo de Córdoba near the border with Oaxaca state that has long been plagued by gang violence. 

Emmanuel Colombié, the Latin America director for Reporters Without Borders, said in the states most plagued by corruption and organized crime, journalists are ever more vulnerable and more exposed to reprisals.

Inter American Press Association President Jorge Canahuati, said 'it is outrageous that journalists continue to be killed in Mexico, and that the crime against them and their relatives is compounded by a lack of justice.'

Jan-Albert Hootsen, the Committee to Protect Journalist's Mexico representative, wrote that 'the brazen killing of Israel Vázquez Rangel underscores how Mexico is more dangerous for reporters than even war zones.'