PHOTO: courtesy BBC

Mexican police are investigating after a group of 25 German tourists and three Mexicans were robbed by armed men.

The tourists were on their way to the Mayan archaeological site of Palenque in southern Chiapas state.

The bus driver had to take a lengthy detour after he found the road leading to Palenque blocked by protesters.

Police escorted the bus for part of the way, but stopped just short of Palenque because the officers said their jurisdiction ended there.

Shortly afterwards, a group of seven armed men boarded the bus as it was driving slowly along a tricky stretch of the road.

They threatened the driver with a gun so he would not drive off and forced the passengers to hand over their cash and cameras, one of the Mexican guides on board the bus said.

The incident happened on Saturday but did not become public until Monday.

(BBC)