Over 8,000 children hug for Guinness world record

MONTERREY (Mexico): More than 8,000 children participated in the planet's biggest hug on Valentine's Day here to set a Guinness world record, Spain's EFE news agency reported on Friday.

The huge embrace was organised in Parque Tolteca in Guadalupe, a suburb of the northern metropolis of Monterrey.

Maria Olivia Chu, a government representative, confirmed the participation of 8,402 children.

The children joined arms in a long chain, in the shape of a spiral, in a park for more than a minute, so that the official could register the hug.

"We broke the previous Guinness record held by the city of Chihuahua," said Guadalupe Mayor Cristina Diaz Salazar. She said the embrace was organised to 'promote values of love and friendship'.

According to the organisers of the event, the previous Guinness world record for world's biggest hug was made at Ciudad Juarez, near El Paso in the US state of Texas, where more than 6,000 children participated.