Mexicans march over missing students

In Mexico, thousands of people have marched throughout the country, calling on the government to shed light on the fate of 43 missing students.

On Wednesday, thousands of people, including students and teachers, marched in the Mexican capital, Mexico City, and the state of Guerrero, where the students disappeared on September 26.

Protesters carrying photographs of the disappeared students expressed anger and shock over the incident. Parents of the victims also held signs reading, “We want them back alive.”

“This march is to demand that the federal and state governments show our sons alive,” spokesman for the families of the missing students, Manuel Martinez, said.

The students, aged from 17 to early 20s, are feared to have been massacred by gang members and police forces.

The march comes days after Mexican authorities found mass graves in Guerrero’s city of Iguala, situated some 200 kilometers (125 miles) south of the capital.

At least 28 bodies are said to have been found in the mass graves. This is while authorities have said that it will take as long as two weeks to identify the bodies.

Guerrero is one of Mexico’s poorest and violence-plagued states as both self-defense groups, also known as vigilante groups, and drug cartels operate in the area.

Nearly 80,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence in Mexico since December 2006.

SZH/AB/KA