Mexico search for missing students unearths 129 bodies

Mexico search for missing students unearths 129 bodies
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2015/07/27/422114/Mexico-Iguala-Rosales-Guerreros
Mon Jul 27, 2015 3:5PM

This photo taken on July 26, 2015 in Guadalajara, Mexico, shows people protesting against last year's disappearance and presumed slaughter of 43 college students. (AFP Photo)

The search for 43 Mexican students who went missing 10 months ago has turned up 60 mass graves and 129 bodies in the southern state of Guerrero.

The graves have been found since the search start for the missing students last September.

However, the attorney general's office said none of the remains of bodies found in the mass graves belong to the students who were last seen in Iguala, in southern Mexico.

The majority of the bodies are said to be males, but the remains of some 20 women are also among the dead, as well.

Authorities say corrupt members of the local police in Iguala had abducted the students and handed them over to the Guerreros Unidos drug gang, which slaughtered them in turn before incinerating their dead bodies.

Dozens of police officers and gang members suspected of implication in the case, and the mayor of the town, have so far been detained.

However, the families of the students refuse such news and believe their children are alive.

The parents of the 43 missing students have called on the authorities to continue the search.

Activists and the missing students' friends joined the parents in a march in the capital Mexico City on Sunday, demanding proof of life on the students who disappeared 10 months ago.

"We demand the relaunching of the search and the reopening of the case, which this corrupt government has refused to do," said Vidulfo Rosales, a lawyer for the families of the missing students.

Until today, only one of the students’ bodies has been found among the charred remains found in a landfill.

People protest against last year's disappearance and presumed slaughter of 43 college students during a demonstration against missing people in Guadalajara, Mexico, on July 26, 2015. (AFP Photo)

Civil societies in the country estimate that more than 35,000 people are missing in Mexico due to violence.

The Mexican government launched a so-called war on drug traffickers in 2006 in a bid to put down drug-related violence. However, the arrest of drug kingpins, has only led to an increase in drug violence as cartels fight for domination over the drug trade.