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Experts insist Mexico students not burned at landfill

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Satellite images have provided more proof that 43 Mexican students who vanished last year were not incinerated at a garbage dump as the authorities have stated, independent investigators said Monday.

Experts from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights have rejected the official conclusions that students were killed and burned at the landfill in the town of Cocula in September 2014.

Satellite images obtained from the attorney general's office "show a location for only one fire that does not correspond to Cocula's coordinates," Alejandro Valencia, an attorney and member of the commission panel, told a news conference.

Prosecutors say police in the neighboring city of Iguala abducted the students after they seized buses and handed them over to a drug gang, which killed them and burned their bodies.

Joaquina Mora (L) is seen during a 2014 vigil for her nephew Alexander Mora  one of 43 missing stude...
Joaquina Mora (L) is seen during a 2014 vigil for her nephew Alexander Mora, one of 43 missing students whose remains were said to be found in a landfill in the town of Cocula in Mexico -- though new evidence casts doubt on that claim
Pedro Pardo, AFP/File

But parents of the students have voiced doubts over the official investigation, while the commission experts issued a report in September citing a fire specialist who found no evidence of a fire at the garbage dump.

The attorney general's office has since agreed to conduct a new forensic investigation at the landfill with a team of international experts.

Authorities have also created a new investigative unit solely dedicated to the case, which has caused international outrage and turned into the biggest challenge of President Enrique Pena Nieto's administration.

Satellite images have provided more proof that 43 Mexican students who vanished last year were not incinerated at a garbage dump as the authorities have stated, independent investigators said Monday.

Experts from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights have rejected the official conclusions that students were killed and burned at the landfill in the town of Cocula in September 2014.

Satellite images obtained from the attorney general’s office “show a location for only one fire that does not correspond to Cocula’s coordinates,” Alejandro Valencia, an attorney and member of the commission panel, told a news conference.

Prosecutors say police in the neighboring city of Iguala abducted the students after they seized buses and handed them over to a drug gang, which killed them and burned their bodies.

Joaquina Mora (L) is seen during a 2014 vigil for her nephew Alexander Mora  one of 43 missing stude...

Joaquina Mora (L) is seen during a 2014 vigil for her nephew Alexander Mora, one of 43 missing students whose remains were said to be found in a landfill in the town of Cocula in Mexico — though new evidence casts doubt on that claim
Pedro Pardo, AFP/File

But parents of the students have voiced doubts over the official investigation, while the commission experts issued a report in September citing a fire specialist who found no evidence of a fire at the garbage dump.

The attorney general’s office has since agreed to conduct a new forensic investigation at the landfill with a team of international experts.

Authorities have also created a new investigative unit solely dedicated to the case, which has caused international outrage and turned into the biggest challenge of President Enrique Pena Nieto’s administration.

AFP
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With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.

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