New Delhi:
A secret mass burial site, with at least 166 bodies were discovered in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz, the latest and biggest in a series of horrifying mass graves discovered in Mexico, officials said.
“The remains of at least 166 people have been found” in the latest mass grave site discovered in Veracruz, state prosecutor Jorge Winckler said.
Mexican drug cartels had often use clandestine pits to dispose of their victims, and the area has suffered from waves of extortion and kidnapping, said the sources.
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According to Winckler, investigators had found 144 ID cards in the pits, which held about 32 burial sites and other personal belonging possessions, including clothes and skeletons. However, investigators are focusing on the skulls in counting, because each corresponds to one person, he said.
The exhumations work began on August 8, after investigators located the site with the used of drones, probes and ground-penetrating radar, said the sources.
However, authorities refused to disclosed the exact location of the site due to security reasons, they said.
“Based on forensic analysis of the discoveries, it had been determined that these are clandestine burial sites which are at least two years old,” the state prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
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Relatives of missing persons will have access to a photographic record of clothes, IDs and other accessories found in the graves, said in a statement.
According to reports, around 3,600 people have gone missing in Veracruz alone since 2006, and another 37,000 people were reported as missing in Mexico.
Meanwhile, hundreds of bodies have been found in burial sites in Veracruz with 253 skulls in 2016 and 2017, the sources said.
(With inputs from agencies)
