A municipal police chief in the Mexican state of Veracruz was killed and four of his officers severely wounded in an ambush, authorities said.

The attack took place early Tuesday on a highway in the southern part of the Gulf coast state.

Armando Sanchez Garibay, the police commander in the town of Lerdo de Tejada, and four of his subordinates were traveling in a patrol vehicle when they were assaulted by gunmen aboard two pick-up trucks.

The attackers hurled grenades and fired bursts from automatic weapons, leaving the police vehicle in flames.

Sanchez Garibay died en route to a hospital and the other four officers remain hospitalised with severe injuries.

Veracruz state police and army troops rushed to the scene, arresting two suspects and seizing the pick-up trucks abandoned by the assailants.