Investigations of Mexican Student Protester Fatalities Continue

Clashes between students and police in the Mexican state of Guerrero on Monday resulted in the death of two students.

The Guerrero state government has pledged to carry out a full investigation, and the National Human Rights Commission has also opened an enquiry.

In the meantime, conflicting accounts of events persist.

On Tuesday Mexican federal police released video footage showing students throwing sticks and stones at police.

The footage also shows students trying to rescue an injured or dead colleague lying in the middle of the street, but then fleeing the scene as police officers closed in on them.

The police state that although they fired in the air, they did not fire directly at the students.

They thus conclude that the student died after receiving a shot fired from the side of the highway.

The chief of the state police and state Attorney General Alberto Lopez have both been sacked for failing to control the protest.

Lopez said at a news conference on Tuesday that an AK-47 rifle had been seized from a man who was found in the area following the clashes.

[Alberto Lopez Rosas, Former State Attorney General]: 

"Because a weapon known as a "goat's horn" (AK-47) was seized from the participants of this protest as well as the eight grenades held by the Mexican army, this leads us to believe interests, other than those of the school and the government, were at play that day."

Some local media have reported that the student protesters had attempted to set a gas station on fire.

The students were demonstrating against the closure of classes in a rural school of Ayotzinapa district.

The investigation continues.