I was at the top of Mexico pyramid when a gunman opened fire

A Glasgow academic who was on top of Mexico's Teotihuacán pyramids when a gunman opened fire has told how she escaped by scrambling down its steep ledges.

Dr Giovana Guidicini, 46, told BBC News that she heard loud bangs and screaming before seeing the man holding a gun at the Unesco World Heritage Site earlier this week.

With no clear route to safety, she and her colleague flattened their bodies on the ground before following other terrified visitors making the precarious climb down.

A 32-year-old Canadian woman died and 13 others were injured in the attack on Monday. The gunman died from a self-inflicted gun wound.

Giovana, who is originally from Italy, has lived in Scotland for 20 years and is an architecture historian at Glasgow School of Art.

She was in Mexico City at a conference and visited the Teotihuacán complex with her colleague Dmtri on the last day of her visit.

After reaching the top of the monument, they took a selfie with crowds of tourists behind them as they took in the views.

Giovana said that minutes later they heard a very loud pop - which they initially thought was part of entertainment at the site.

But when they heard the noise again followed by screams they realised the gravity of the situation.

"That is when I realised it was real," Giovana said.

"The gunman was 20ft away from us and shooting towards the queue of people waiting to exit down the stairs.

"The screams brought the situation to life more than the gunshots."

Giovana said they tried to find a way to escape but the gunman - 27-year-old Julio César Jasso Ramírez - was shooting at the only exit.

She said: "We were trapped 70ft from the ground with nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.

"Quickly we lay flat on the ground. It was a really scary feeling - just total helplessness.

"We could still hear the screams and shootings but we had stopped looking."

While the exit was blocked the pair noticed people were scrambling down the layers of the pyramid - each one a 15ft (5m) drop.

Other tourists began to help as they dropped down the stone wall to get out of the gunman's eyeline.

Giovana said when she realised there was a potential escape route she felt hopeful.

The group - consisting of about eight to ten tourists - reached the ground and made their way to the edge of the site, which was surrounded by a barbed wire fence.

She said: "When you can still hear shooting and screaming going on despite being in a safer place your instinct is to get as far away as possible.

"Some locals noticed us and brought a pick up truck over to the fence then we could climb over and there was someone to catch us at the other-side.

"When we reached the street we went to a nearby restaurant that gave us food and water."

Giovana and Dmitri could then see police and army vans surrounding the area.

"I had a panic attack and burst into tears while coming to terms with what happened," she said.

Giovana's 11-hour flight home was later that evening.

On her way to the airport she loved ones back home know she was okay as the news of the attack spread across the globe.

She said: "I have now seen pictures and videos online of the people who couldn't escape and were held hostage on the terrace.

"There was a clip I saw of the shooter saying threats in Spanish - talking about sacrificing people and saying they would never see Europe again.

"People were stuck there powerless and potentially waiting to die."

The shooting was described as a "headache" for the Mexican government in local reports.

Tourists were targeted just weeks before the county co-hosts the 2026 football World Cup.

Visitors from Russia, Columbia and Brazil were treated for injuries.

The shooting comes less than two months after masked gunmen from the Jalisco New Generation Cartel unleashed violence across the country following the killing of their leader "El Mencho" by the security forces.

Giovanna, back in Glasgow, says as the shock of the attack wears away the trauma of the incident sets in.

"I was at home last night in the kitchen and a Western film was on the TV in the living room.

"When I heard gunshots I jumped, I felt really cold and uncomfortable.

"I hope that this doesn't last forever," she added.