Protests erupt after Mexican authorities say three students killed, dissolved in acid

Hundreds took to the streets of Guadalajara on Tuesday (April 24) after Mexican authorities on Monday (April 23) said three missing Mexican students were killed last month in the western state of Jalisco and their bodies dissolved in acid after criminals confused them with members of a rival gang

Organizers of the student-led demonstration in the capital of Jalisco state said the government needed to do more to address disappearances and killings, especially of young people.

Criminal groups in Mexico often kidnap, torture, dismember and even dissolve their victims in acid and many of the remains are dumped in clandestine graves.

In 2014, 43 student teachers disappeared in the southern state of Guerrero and the government said they were kidnapped by police who handed them over to a criminal group that killed them and burnt their bodies.

The three film students were last seen in the municipality of Tonala after their car broke down and they were later kidnapped by at least six people, who tortured and killed them, according to Jalisco state prosecutors.

Prosecutors said the youths were confused with members of a another gang by gunmen from the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), which has become the most powerful in Mexico, according to U.S. authorities.

More than 25,000 people were murdered last year in Mexico. Homicides hit their highest level in records going back 20 years.