In the conflict-ridden state of Guerrero, Mexican authorities are investigating a brutal massacre believed to have been carried out by two rival criminal groups vying for control of the area. When police arrived in Buenavista de los Hurtado, they discovered five charred bodies stacked on top of a burned vehicle, according to the state attorney general’s statement released late Saturday.
Local media reported the suspected death toll to be 30, citing footage shared by alleged members of the Familia Michoacana on social media and interviews with unnamed sources in the area. The footage depicted heavily armed men dressed in military attire piling up bodies, some naked, on a red pickup truck riddled with bullet holes in a desert setting.
Some of the victims in the footage appeared to have dismembered limbs, and at least one had a missing head. In the video, a man is seen arranging a severed head atop the pile of bodies and requesting for more, while another person filmed the scene from all angles using heavy Mexican language.
While the authenticity of the video could not be independently verified by Reuters, several local media outlets later shared widely-viewed videos showing a similar pickup truck and burned bodies. Mexican authorities acknowledged the violent clash between the criminal groups of Familia Michoacana and Los Tlacos, both of which have been engaged in a dispute for territorial control.
According to the state attorney general’s statement, police investigators found no evidence of additional criminal activities in the area. The statement also noted that villagers had refused to provide DNA samples for the identification of the remains and for furthering the investigation. Reuter’s attempts to obtain comments from villagers were unsuccessful.
Since being posted on Friday night, the video garnered 3.1 million views on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Authorities in Mexico are currently investigating a violent massacre in the state of Guerrero, where two rival criminal groups are fighting for control. They found five burned bodies stacked onto a burned vehicle in
Buenavista de los Hurtado, the state attorney general said in a statement. The local media reported that 30 people died after a drone attack in the desert. The footage showed heavily armed men dressed in military clothing piling bodies on a pickup with bullet holes. Mexican authorities are aware of a “confrontation between the criminal groups of Familia Michoacana and Los Tlacos, which have a running dispute for control of the area.” There was no evidence of other crimes found, the statement said. Villagers declined to give DNA samples that would allow for the identification of the remains and advance investigations.
(Reporting by Stefanie Eschenbacher; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
