B.C. firm says some workers found dead after abduction from Mexico mine

Workers found dead

Photo: The Canadian Press

A Mexican flag waves at Mexico City´s main square the Zocalo at sunrise Monday, April 24, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Marco Ugarte

A Vancouver-based firm that operates a mine site in Mexico where 10 workers were abducted last month says it has been told by a number of families that their relatives have been found dead.

The statement posted on the website of Vizsla Silver Corp. says the firm was waiting for confirmation from Mexican authorities and would provide further updates as appropriate.

The company does not say how many of its abducted employees have been found dead after they were taken from the site in Concordia, Mexico.

Vizsla president Michael Konnert says the company is "devastated by this outcome and the tragic loss of life."

He says the focus remains on the safe recovery of those who remain missing and supporting all of the affected families.

Global Affairs Canada had previously said it wasn't aware of any Canadians missing in the abduction at Vizsla's Panuco project site, a gold and silver mining operation in the state of Sinaloa.

Mexican authorities had announced Friday the discovery of bodies and remains in the area where the search for the missing workers was taking place.

The statement from the Mexican Attorney General's Office did not specify how many bodies were found, but said one of the bodies had the "characteristics of one of the people reported as missing."

The office also reported the arrests of four people believed to be tied to the disappearances.

The region is one of various parts of the state where a turf war has played out for more than a year between two rival factions of the Sinaloa cartel.