Mexican students were not burned

Satellite images have provided proof that 43 missing Mexican students who vanished last year were not incinerated at a garbage dump, independent investigators said on Monday.

The investigators have rejected official conclusions that the students were killed and burned at the landfill in the town of Cocula in September 2014.

They say that satellite images from the attorney general's office "show a location for only one fire that does not correspond to Cocula's coordinates."

According to authorities, the students of a teacher training college in Ayotzinapa were participating in a protest last year in September.

Prosecutors contend the group was taken into police custody in Iguala, 200 kilometers south of Mexico City, and handed over to a criminal gang that allegedly burned their bodies and dumped them at a landfill in Cocula.

Parents of the missing students expressed doubts over the government's findings. The IACHR rejected the hypothesis earlier this year after they independently gathered evidence which showed there had been no evidence of fire at the garbage dump. Until now, the remains of only one student have been identified. Another body has been identified, but with a lesser degree of certainty.

Since then, Mexico's attorney general has ordered a new investigation into the incident. A new investigative unit has been created solely for the case.

Scores of people have been arrested as part of the official investigation, while numerous protests have taken place demanding justice for victims and damaged the government's reputation.

Mexico has also seen repeated protests demanding justice for the victims. The crisis has proven to be a big challenge for Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto's administration.

mg/jr (dpa, AFP)