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Police find 19 bodies in ventilation shaft of Mexican mine

Other News Materials 24 August 2010 03:14 (UTC +04:00)
Mexican police found at least 19 bodies in the ventilation shaft of a mine near the central city of Pachuca, Mexican media reported Monday citing police officers, dpa reported.
Police find 19 bodies in ventilation shaft of Mexican mine

Mexican police found at least 19 bodies in the ventilation shaft of a mine near the central city of Pachuca, Mexican media reported Monday citing police officers, dpa reported.

The mine was reportedly used as a mass grave by organized crime killers.

The Public Security Ministry in the state of Hidalgo told the German Press Agency dpa that some bodies had been found at the mine, but stressed that "there was officially not an exact number of victims" because the search through the site, which started over the weekend, was ongoing Monday.

The mine is about 90 kilometres northeast of Mexico City, and its ventilation shaft was apparently being used by the criminal gang Los Zetas to throw the bodies of its victims. Several of the bodies found were mutilated, and some were heavily decomposed.

Earlier this year, Mexican authorities found more than 50 bodies in the ventilation shaft of a mine in Taxco, in the southern state of Guerrero, and in a rubbish dump in the northern state of Nuevo Leon.

Mexican authorities estimate more than 28,000 people have been killed in the country in incidents linked to organized crime since Mexican President Felipe Calderon took office in December 2006. Calderon has escalated the fight against drug gangs by deploying additional national security forces.

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