Santa Rita massacre
| Santa Rita massacre | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Salvadoran Civil War | |
Journalists at the site of the massacre | |
| Location | Near Santa Rita, El Salvador |
| Coordinates | 14°05′35″N 89°01′58″W / 14.09306°N 89.03278°W |
| Date | 17 March 1982 Around 5:00 p.m. (–6 UTC) |
| Target | Dutch journalists FMLN guerrillas |
Attack type | Massacre |
| Weapons | M16s and M60s |
| Deaths | 8 |
| Injured | 1 |
| Perpetrator | Atonal Battalion |
The Santa Rita massacre (Spanish: masacre de Santa Rita) occurred near the municipality of Santa Rita in Chalatenango, El Salvador, on 17 March 1982. During the massacre, soldiers from the Atonal Battalion attacked and killed four Dutch journalists and a disputed number of guerrillas from the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN).