MEXICO CITY, – Three of the 10 miners kidnapped last month from a mine operated by Canada’s Vizla Silver Corp. in Mexico’s northern Sinaloa state have been found dead, the company and the country’s Chamber of Mines said Monday.
Three of the 10 kidnapped miners found dead in MexicoIgnacio Aurelio Salazar, Jose Angel Hernandez and Jose Manuel Castaneda were confirmed dead by local authorities, Mexican mining chamber Camimex said in a statement, calling for the killings to go unpunished.
“We ask that it is an absolute priority to locate our colleagues who are still missing alive so that they can return home to their families, where you belong,” Camimex added.
The group was kidnapped in late January from a silver mine in an area that security authorities say is under the control of the Chapitos, a group of the Sinaloa cartel led by the sons of former Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
On Friday, Mexican authorities said at least one body found in a secret grave in Concordia – about 45 kilometers east of the Pacific coastal city of Mazatlan – matched the description of one of the missing miners.
The Mexican government sent more than 1,000 troops, including elite marines, to the area over the weekend to try to find the missing miners. Four suspects were arrested in this incident on Thursday.
Speaking at a news conference Monday morning, President Claudia Sheinbaum said the government is in close contact with the workers’ families and the mining company.
“We are looking into everything that could have led to this situation,” he said. “We hope a situation like this never happens again.”
Four relatives of the kidnapped miners told Reuters they had not been asked for ransom, but the workers said the area was dangerous because of local crime groups.
Jaime Lopez, the uncle of missing 26-year-old engineer Pablo Osorio, told Reuters his family was struggling and had no financial support.
He said, we are not a family of wealth, what is happening is very sad. “So far they haven’t helped at all.”
Mexico’s attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Vancouver-based Vizla Silver said it would provide further updates pending confirmation from Mexican authorities. Its Panuco mine has been shut down since the hijacking and the company’s shares were down about 6% in late morning trade.
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