Human bones have been found near a military base in central Chile where political prisoners were tortured during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, officials said Friday.
"They are human remains, but what has not been determined yet is the date" of death, forensics director Patricio Bustos told journalists, saying specialists continued working in the area under heavy police guard.
He said the remains appeared to be from more than one person.
An estimated 3,200 people died or went missing during Chile's bloody 1973-1990 dictatorship. Another 38,000 were tortured under Pinochet, who died in 2006.
The bones were found on a farm near the Tejas Verdes military base outside the resort town of Santo Domingo on the central coast.
A judge had ordered a search in the area after receiving information that human remains were located there.
More than 100 people were held at Tejas Verdes after the coup that overthrew the leftist government of Salvador Allende on September 11, 1973.
The inmates were subjected to torture by agents of the military regime, according to Memoria Viva, an organization that tracks information on victims of the dictatorship.
The Association of Relatives of Detained and Disappeared (AFDD) said the location of the find strongly suggested a link to the dictatorship.
"We're talking about a spot that's very near, almost adjoining, the Tejas Verdes regiment, so that generates a lot of expectations about the case," said AFDD president Lorena Pizarro.
Human bones have been found near a military base in central Chile where political prisoners were tortured during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, officials said Friday.
“They are human remains, but what has not been determined yet is the date” of death, forensics director Patricio Bustos told journalists, saying specialists continued working in the area under heavy police guard.
He said the remains appeared to be from more than one person.
An estimated 3,200 people died or went missing during Chile’s bloody 1973-1990 dictatorship. Another 38,000 were tortured under Pinochet, who died in 2006.
The bones were found on a farm near the Tejas Verdes military base outside the resort town of Santo Domingo on the central coast.
A judge had ordered a search in the area after receiving information that human remains were located there.
More than 100 people were held at Tejas Verdes after the coup that overthrew the leftist government of Salvador Allende on September 11, 1973.
The inmates were subjected to torture by agents of the military regime, according to Memoria Viva, an organization that tracks information on victims of the dictatorship.
The Association of Relatives of Detained and Disappeared (AFDD) said the location of the find strongly suggested a link to the dictatorship.
“We’re talking about a spot that’s very near, almost adjoining, the Tejas Verdes regiment, so that generates a lot of expectations about the case,” said AFDD president Lorena Pizarro.
