Bodies in Mexico Mass Grave 'Savagely Slaughtered'

Grim find in Guerrero as officials search for 43 missing student protesters
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 5, 2014 7:00 AM CDT
Bodies in Mexico Mass Grave 'Savagely Slaughtered'
A marine guards the road that leads to the site where an alleged clandestine mass grave was found near the city of Iguala, Mexico, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2014.   (AP Photo/Alejandrino Gonzalez)

Mexican forces searching for 43 students who went missing last weekend amid violence in the southern state of Guerrero made instead a grisly discovery yesterday: Six freshly dug mass graves on the outskirts of Iguala city containing at least 20 bodies, reports Reuters; the victims had been "savagely slaughtered," as per Guerrero's governor. It's not clear whether the bodies in the graves are the missing students, notes the AP, with the state's prosecutor calling such speculation "irresponsible." "In the next few hours we will determine the cause of death and the number of bodies," his spokesman tells Reuters.

Student protesters and police clashed last weekend, and six people were killed. State investigators say local police are shown in video hauling away some of the missing students; 22 officers have thus far been arrested, with the state prosecutor saying that "elements of the municipal police are part of organized crime." Eight other people he says are also tied to organized crime have also been arrested. Meanwhile, fresh violence broke out in the state capital last night, with protesting students overturning a car and lobbing gas bombs at the governor's residence. (More Mexico stories.)

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