TETELCINGO,MORELOS, Mexico(Reuters) — Forensic investigators in Mexico on Monday (May 23) began exhuming at least 100 bodies found in a mass grave in the state of Morelos, which authorities believe to be the work of organised crime in the region.
According to officials, investigators have been called in to identify the remains of about 116 people who are believed to be buried in this mass grave in the duty town of Tetelcingo.
Given the high presence of authorities that has converged on the area, locals are demanding answers.
“The first question is who are they (investigators) and who are they looking for? The other (question) is regarding why they arrived with false documents? Because the case regarding Oliver is very clear, it was an example two death certificates where much information was falsified,” said Alejandro Vera Jimenez, the Dean at the Autonomous University of Morelos State.
The area has one of the highest kidnapping rates in the country, and many locals whose loved ones have gone missing converged on the crime scene seeking answers.
“There was 150 bodies or more which need a proper burial, which need a dignified grave. And for the families who are waiting know what happened to their loved ones. It’s fair for everyone,” said mother, Maria Ramirez.
Officials are exhuming the corpses to possibly identify the remains and the number of bodies which have been dumped at the site.
Many mass graves have been found across Mexico in recent years and months, the legacy of drug gang violence that has killed around 100,000 people since 2007.
Most recently, a series of mass graves with over 100 bodies in total was over in the restive state of Guerrero was unearthed in the search for 43 missing students feared massacred.
