MEXICO - 16 men shot and burnt

Sixteen men were shot dead and burned in two pickup trucks in the western city of Culiacan, officials said yesterday, and seven other people were slain in the same state.

Neighbours called police after seeing a pickup truck on fire early yesterday in the Antonio Rosales neighbourhood of Culiacan, capital of the Pacific coast state of Sinaloa, said state Attorney General Marco Antonio Higuera Gomez.

Investigators found 12 bodies on the bed of the truck, some of them handcuffed and wearing bulletproof vests, Higuera said.

He said authorities are trying to determine if some of the victims are part of a group of nine people, including three local police officers, who were kidnapped in the town of Angostura on Monday.

Minutes after the first fire was reported, authorities received another call about a pickup truck burning behind a store.