IGUALA DE LA INDEPEN-DENCIA: More bodies were being pulled out of a mass grave in southern Mexico yesterday as authorities worked to determine if 43 students who vanished after a police shooting were among the dead.
At least 15 bodies have so far been dug out of pits discovered on Saturday on a hill outside the town of Iguala, 200km south of Mexico City, two police officers said.
The grim find came a week after the students disappeared when a protest turned deadly. Witnesses in Iguala say municipal police officers whisked several of the students away.
Inaky Blanco, chief prosecutor for the violence-plagued state of Guerrero, declined to say how many bodies were buried in the pits. The site was cordoned off and guarded by scores of troops and police. The graves were found after some of the 30 suspects detained in the case told authorities about their location, Blanco said. The detainees include 22 police officers and gang members.
If the bodies are confirmed to be those of the students, it would be one of the worst slaughters that Mexico has witnessed since the drug war intensified in 2006, leaving 80,000 people dead to date.
AFP
