Police found nearly 400 bodies piled up at a private crematorium in Ciudad Juarez in northern Mexico near the country’s border with the US.
Two people have been arrested in relation to the horrifying discovery.
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The site was left unattended for
Officials say the site was ‘neglected’ and that the hundreds of bodies were stacked up in a warehouse compound.
The warehouse continues to be investigated, but so far 383 bodies were reported to be found.
They were meant to be cremated
The bodies found were meant to be cremated but had been piled up and neglected. Of the bodies recovered so far 218 are male, 149 are female, and 16 are still undetermined.
Speaking to AFP, Communications coordinator of the Chihuahua state prosecutor’s office, Eloy Garcia said that the bodies had been ‘deposited irregularly in the crematorium, which were not cremated.’
The bodies were thrown together
Garcia said the bodies found had been ‘just thrown like that, indiscriminately, one on top of the other, on the floor.’
CBS News reported that the bodies had been embalmed but had not been cremated, adding that authorities believe some of the bodies may have been there for up to two years.
Some of the bodies had name tags on them
An ongoing investigation discovered that the crematorium provided cremation services to six or seven local funeral homes.
Director of Forensic Services and Sciences, Javier Sánchez Herrera said that name and social security tags from hospitals were also found on some of the bodies.
Two people have been arrested
The owner and employee, José Luis Arellano Cuaron and Facundo MR, were both detained under an arrest warrant and charged with burial, exhumation, and disrespect for corpses or human remains to the detriment of society, Herrera said.
The two are currently on pretrial detention with their hearing set to be on July 4.
The State Attorney General released a statement
“The Judge granted the preventive detention requested by the Public Prosecutor’s Office so that these individuals can continue their proceedings in prison,” State Attorney General César Jáuregui Moreno said.
“This ensures that they can not only address the economic damage they inflicted on many families, but also determine the terms of reparation for the damages for many of them, who are being revictimized by the pain they had already, in some ways, healed.”
Some of the families of the deceased were contacted
The State Attorney General has also met with the families of the deceased who were ensured they will receive ‘comprehensive care and support in their decision regarding their loved ones.’
He said, “We will seek the highest possible penalty for those responsible. We will conduct a thorough investigation, seeking to minimize the re-victimization of families already experiencing this.”