Federal Police patrol around a hospital in Guadalajara
MEXICO CITY, Jan 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Mexican prosecutors are investigating the discovery of a burned-out vehicle containing the charred bodies of at least 10 people in the southwestern state of Guerrero, authorities said.
Police made the grisly discovery on a country road in the municipality of Chilapa de Alvarez after locals saw the vehicle on fire and alerted authorities, state security spokesman Roberto Alvarez said in a statement published on Facebook.
Forensic and other investigators were at the scene, a state prosecutor said.
It is not clear what caused the fire. According to media reports, the victims were men and youths from a musical group who were attacked by suspected gunmen from a local drug cartel.
The attorney general’s office of Guerrero did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
One of Mexico’s poorest states, Guerrero has long been one of the most violent regions of the country, which was on track to register a record number of homicides last year. Chilapa de Alvarez is a notoriously violent area of Guerrero.
Drug gangs violently defend trafficking routes in the state along the Pacific coast.
In Oct, 14 suspected criminals and a soldier were killed in Guerrero after a group of armed civilians attacked security forces.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took office more than a year ago promising to attack violent crime at its roots by fighting poverty and inequality with social programs, rather than with the army.
But the country still saw nearly 29,000 murders last year, and has registered around 275,000 killings since the government launched a military offensive against drug cartels in 2006. — NNN-AGENCIES