61 bodies found in abandoned Mexican crematorium

Acapulco (Mexico), Feb 6 (IANS/EFE) A total of 61 bodies have been found at an abandoned crematorium in Acapulco, in the Mexican state of Guerrero, where in September last year 43 students went missing, officials from the public prosecutor's office reported Friday.

The discovery was made after residents from the neighbouring areas called the authorities, who reached the crematorium and recovered the human remains in forensic vehicles, as confirmed by Spanish news agency Efe.

According to the sources, the foul smell from the bodies caught the attention of nearby residents who alerted the authorities Thursday.

Apparently, the crematorium, the Cremaciones El Pacifico, had been abandoned about a year ago.

Personnel from the federal and state police as well as the government reached the spot and cordoned off the area.

By early Friday, all the bodies had been removed on stretchers and taken to the local forensic institute after covering them with white sheets.

The authorities were scheduled to release an official statement, however some officials believed that one of the bodies belonged to that of a minor and that none of them had been mutilated.

Additionally, the bodies had been covered in lime to prevent stench and none of them had been burned.

Guerrero is among the poorest states, with one of the highest incidence of organised crime and social conflict in Mexico.

Acapulco is some 200 km from the town of Iguala, where Sep 26, 43 students from a teachers college went missing after being rounded up by corrupt local police who then handed them over to a crime cartel.

According to testimony of some of the criminals arrested in the case, the students were murdered and their bodies were burned at a landfill site in neighboring Cocula.

On Thursday, Autopista del Sol, a highway connecting Acapulco with Mexico City, witnessed a demonstration by thousands of people who demanded that the missing students be returned alive and that the army stationed in Guerrero be made to leave.

The march, which blocked traffic on one of the two lanes of the highway for several hours, was led by the families of the missing students.

--IANS/EFE

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