Tests will be conducted to determine whether it would have been possible to burn the 43 students who disappeared in Iguala on 26 September, 2014

Mexico: evidence of large fire in which at least 17 bodies were burned found

A third investigation of a dump site in southern Mexico found evidence of a large fire in which at least 17 bodies were burned, a member of a six-person fire expert team said Friday.

Former mayor charged with kidnapping in case of missing 43 Mexican students Read more

Ricardo Damian Torres, speaking from the offices of Mexico’s attorney general, said tests would be conducted in the coming weeks to determine whether it would have been possible to burn all 43 students who disappeared in Iguala on 26 September, 2014 in a case that has sparked large protests and become symbolic of the country’s human rights issues.

“There is sufficient evidence, including physically observable, to affirm that there was a controlled fire event of great dimensions in the place called the Cocula dump,” Torres said. He did not say when such a fire occurred or offer any explanation as to how the team conducted its research and reached its conclusion.

The latest study comes after another team of international experts sent by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights concluded the students from the Rural Normal School at Ayotzinapa could not have been burned at the Cocula dump as the government has maintained.

Missing Iguala student identified among charred remains in Mexico Read more

The students disappeared after hijacking buses in Iguala. They were intercepted by local police and turned over to members of a local drug cartel.

The Mexican government’s investigation determined they were killed and incinerated at a garbage dump outside the nearby town of Cocula. It said their incinerated remains were then thrown in a nearby river. Genetic testing of remains the government said it recovered from the river confirmed the identities of two of the missing students.

The families of the missing students have strongly rejected the government’s investigation.

In Friday’s press conference, Torres appeared beside Eber Betanzos, Mexico’s deputy attorney general for human rights, and took no questions.