Four mass graves were discovered outside the city of Iguala in southern Mexico on Thursday, nearly two weeks after 43 students from a teachers college went missing there.
[seealso slug="student-protesters-mexico"]
The discovery is the latest development in a case, which has sparked outrage and underscored the extent of corruption and rampant violence in Mexico. The students disappeared after police officers opened fire on protesters in the city of Iguala on Sept. 26, leaving six dead and 25 wounded. At least twenty of the missing students were last seen being rounded up into police vehicles.
One mass grave had been discovered outside of the city previously, holding the remains of 22 people thought to be some of the missing students. Forensic tests are underway, but the bodies were so badly burned that officials say it could take up to two months to determine if they are, in fact, the students.
The development Thursday comes after thousands of people marched in protests across Mexico on Wednesday. The demonstrators called for accountability from an increasingly corrupt government and demanded the students to be returned alive. Many protesters carried signs reading "We want them alive," "We demand justice," and the hashtag "#hastaencontrarlos," meaning "until they are found."
[img src="http://admin.mashable.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/asesino-.jpg" caption="A woman wears a black veil and carries a cross reading in Spanish "Assassin State," as thousands march down one of the capital's main boulevards to demand justice in the case of 43 missing students." credit="Rebecca Blackwell" alt="a woman hold up a sign that says estado asesino"]
On Thursday, Guerrero State Attorney General Iñaky Blanco announced that the number of people linked to the disappearance has now reached 30, including the mayor of Iguala and 26 members of the local police force. Mayor José Luis Abarca Velázquez has well-known ties to the Beltran Levya cartel and has been missing since the day of the shootings. He has been charged with homicide, assault and forced disappearance.
President Enrique Pena Nieto said he has requested his Security Cabinet to expedite investigations into the incident, and has promised those involved will be brought to justice.
"Very soon, the Mexican society will know who was responsible for these painful, deplorable and unacceptable acts," he said.