MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico has identified nine more Guatemalan victims who were among 19 people killed in a massacre in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas last month, authorities said Saturday.
So far, 16 of the victims have been identified, including two Mexican nationals and 14 Guatemalans, the Tamaulipas state prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Authorities worked to identify the bodies using DNA collected by people who believe their relatives, many of whom are Guatemalan migrants, may be among the victims. The bodies, some of which were badly charred and with gunshot wounds, were found along a popular smuggling route in a remote area of Tamaulipas, bordering the United States in northeastern Mexico.
The killings have caused renewed consternation in Mexico over the dangers facing migrants, many of whom hail from the three violent and impoverished countries of Central America, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
One of the newly identified people is named by the Mexican prosecutor’s office as Paola D. ‘Z’, believes Paola Damaris Zacarias. Her family told Reuters last month that she was believed to be among those killed. [L1N2K50G9]
(Reporting by Mexico City Newsroom; writing by Drazen Jorgic; Edited by Christian Schmollinger)