Bodies left behind by crematorium owners discovered in Mexico

Mexico City, Feb 7 (IANS/EFE) The 60 bodies discovered at a shuttered crematorium in the resort city of Acapulco were apparently left behind by the management when the business failed, authorities in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero said Friday.

The bodies, which were embalmed and had been "prepared" for cremation, will undergo a battery of forensic tests to determine identity and cause of death, the state Attorney General's Office said in a statement.

Whoever is responsible for abandoning the bodies will likely face charges, the statement said.

The AG's office said the Guerrero Funeral Home Association informed authorities that the crematorium, owned by Guillermo Estua Zardain, was "closed a year ago due to bankruptcy or fraud".

The funeral homes have been asked to provide documentation about each body they sent to Estua Zardain's crematorium since 2013.

Authorities discovered the bodies Thursday after nearby residents complained about a foul odour coming from the crematorium.

Acapulco is some 200 km (120 miles) from Iguala, Guerrero, where 43 students from Ayotzinapa teachers college were kidnapped on the night of Sep 26 last year after coming under attack by police.

Federal authorities say corrupt local cops handed the students over to drug-cartel enforcers who killed them and burned their bodies at a dump.

--IANS/EFE

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