Mexican police unearth 59 bodies in pits as they search for abducted bus passengers 80 miles south of U.S. border - 7th Apr 2011

Mexican security forces searching for abducted bus passengers in a violent northern state bordering Texas have stumbled on a collection of pits holding a total of 59 bodies.

The grisly find was made near the ranch where drug cartel gunmen less than a year ago massacred 72 migrants who were trying to reach the United States.

Investigators struggled to exhume the bodies in the mass grave to determine whether they belonged to kidnapped bus passengers, migrants who frequently ride buses in the area, or drug traffickers executed by rivals.

Meanwhile Amnesty International today urged the Mexican authorities to conduct a full, independent and effective investigation into the deaths.

Rupert Knox, researcher on Mexico at Amnesty International, said: 'The mass graves found yesterday once again show the Mexican government’s failure to deal with the country’s public security crisis and reduce criminal violence which has left many populations vulnerable to attacks, abductions and killings. Read More