--- description: At least 481 people were murdered in March, or almost 16 a day. The figure is a 52% increase from the same period last year title: 16 People Were Murdered Every Day in El Salvador in March image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt584740727ebbbaab/698786f506f2c12b2c334c78/salvador.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [El Salvador](/tag/el-salvador/) ## El Salvador Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 16 People Were Murdered Every Day in El Salvador in March by [David Stout](/author/david-stout/) ## David Stout Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 7, 2015 7:26 AM CUT  An army soldier guards a crime scene after eight people were shot dead in Quezaltepeque, El Salvador, on March 30, 2015 An army soldier guards a crime scene after eight people were shot dead in Quezaltepeque, El Salvador, on March 30, 2015Reuters by [David Stout](/author/david-stout/) ## David Stout Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 7, 2015 7:26 AM CUT El Salvador recorded more murders in March than in any other month during the past decade, as gangland violence and drug trafficking continue to ravage the nation of 6 million. Citing figures from the country’s National Civil Police (PNC), the newspaper _La Prensa Grafica_ [reports](http://www.laprensagrafica.com/2015/04/02/marzo-2015-el-mas-violento-de-la-ultima-decada "undefined") that at least 481 people were murdered in March — or almost 16 a day. The figure represents a 52% increase from the same period last year The Central American nation has been rocked by renewed bouts of violence after a two-year truce between notorious gangs MS-13 and Barrio 18 collapsed last year. Following the end of the cease-fire, the country’s security forces have taken a harder line with gang members and drug traffickers. In January, the director of El Salvador’s PNC [said](http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/el-salvador-police-commander-green-light-gangs "undefined") law-enforcement officials had the right to shoot suspected criminals with “complete confidence.” “There is an institution that backs us. There is a government that supports us,” Mauricio Ramírez Landaverde [told](https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=57&v=%5F74RWswQ8Vk "undefined") reporters during a press conference. Nearly 40 police officers were killed in the line of duty last year. However, analysts [say](http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/el-salvador-sees-most-violent-month-in-10-years?utm%5Fsource=Master+List&utm%5Fcampaign=39e5a97bbc-4%5F3%5F154%5F2%5F2015&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fterm=0%5Fe90c5425f9-39e5a97bbc-206741801 "undefined") police deaths in 2015 will surpass that figure. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3773443/el-salvador-murder-gang-violence/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3773443/el-salvador-murder-gang-violence/"},"headline":"16 People Were Murdered Every Day in El Salvador in March","datePublished":"2015-04-07T07:26:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T05:44:48.119Z","description":"The grim tally is now hitting record highs","url":"https://time.com/3773443/el-salvador-murder-gang-violence/","keywords":["El Salvador","gangs","central america"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt584740727ebbbaab/698786f506f2c12b2c334c78/salvador.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"David Stout","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/david-stout/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt584740727ebbbaab/698786f506f2c12b2c334c78/salvador.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"An army soldier guards a crime scene after eight people were shot dead in Quezaltepeque","caption":"An army soldier guards a crime scene after eight people were shot dead in Quezaltepeque","creditText":"Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/el-salvador/","name":"El Salvador"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3773443/el-salvador-murder-gang-violence/","name":"16 People Were Murdered Every Day in El Salvador in March"}}]}] ```