Mexico: Mass Grave Found With At Least 59 Bodies

Authorities in Mexico say security forces have found at least 59 bodies in a mass grave in the northern state of Tamaulipas, near the U.S. border.

Government officials said police and military personnel found the mass grave while investigating the March 25 disappearance of several buses in the area. The state prosecutor’s office said they are trying to determine whether the grave contains the bodies of the bus passengers.

Eleven suspects were arrested during the investigation.

The grave in the township of San Fernando is in the same area that 72 Central American migrants were found shot to death last August. Survivors of the attack say the victims were shot for refusing to work for an illegal drug cartel.

Also Wednesday, thousands of people in a number of Mexican cities protested the violence that accompanies Mexico’s fight against the illegal drug trade.

Drug-related killings have taken some 34,000 lives since 2006, when the Mexican government launched an offensive on drug trafficking.