The remains of 59 bodies – belonging mostly to young people – have been found in unmarked graves in Mexico.
The bodies, possibly of teenagers, were discovered in Guanajuato state.
The discovery was made in the Salvatierra municipality, an area that has become one of the most violent places in Mexico, as drug cartels fight for control of trafficking routes.
More than 2,200 murders were recorded in Guanajuato state in the first eight months of the year.
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The grim discovery came after families of missing persons raised the alarm, said Karla Quintana, the head of Mexico’s National Search Commission.
At least 10 of the victims were women, she said.
More than 80 people were involved in locating the graves after authorities were informed of their possible location, although it is not clear who provided the information.
It took a total of 52 excavations until the bodies were discovered, search commissioner Hector Diaz said.
Guanajuato is notorious for gang-related violence.
In July, gunmen stormed a drug rehabilitation centre in Irapuato, Guanajuato, killing 24 people. It came after a similar attack on a rehab facility in the same city less than a month before.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who came into power at the end of 2018, vowed to crack down on the gang violence. However, the national murder rate reached an all-time high in 2019.
