Mexican police, working with the local drug cartel, abducted 43 college students on September 26. They have not officially been found, but authorities suspect that the charred remains found in a river near Cocula are those of the students. They are currently doing extensive DNA testing to confirm.

The students had gone to protest discriminatory hiring practices for teachers in the city of Iguala, about two hours away from the rural teaching college at which they study. The buses were en route back to the school when they were stopped by police, who sprayed one of the buses with machine gun fire. The police then forced the students out of another bus at gunpoint. Three students were killed, as well as three bystanders. 17 students were injured. One ran away and was later found dead and horribly mutilated– the typical mark of a drug cartel killing.

43 students were abducted and have not been seen since these reports by survivors.

The mayor of Iguala, José Luis Abarca Velázquez, allegedly ordered the attacks on the students, for fear that they would interrupt his wife’s political speech later that night. He and his chief of police, Felipe Flores Veláquez–also his first cousin– have since gone into hiding and are considered to be fugitives from justice by the Mexican federal government, according to the Daily Beast.

Authorities found six mass graves containing an estimated 34 bodies soon after. They did not belong to the students.

Violent protests have commenced in Mexico City, as the gang hitmen have confessed to murdering the students and burning their bodies. They stated that the police, who had taken the students hostage, handed them over to the gang, who then proceeded to murder them, according to Yahoo news.

Protesters are partaking in massive demonstrations, and even set fire to the door of Mexico’s National Palace, according to CNN. Renovations on the palace after burnings in a protest last year were recently concluded.

Critics of the protesters claim that they are exploiting the situation for political gain. The protesters are condemning what they consider to be inaction on the part of the government.

The four alleged drug traffickers, associated with the gang Guerreros Unidos, as well as 22 police officers from Iguala, are now in federal custody for homicide and kidnapping, as reported by the Daily Beast.

The parents of the missing students are deeply distrustful of the government, and say that they will believe that their sons are dead when the DNA results independent Argentine forensic experts indicate so, according to Yahoo news.

The 43 victims are mostly in their twenties, according to CNN. They are studying to be teachers at the Raúl Isidro Burgos Rural Teachers College of Ayotzinapa. The school is known to be a breeding ground for activists. It is devote to helping small farmers and farm workers. Due to their commitment to social change, they have often found themselves butting heads with local powers, which now are apparently inextricably linked to narcotics traffickers.