Mexican cartel dumps 35 bodies during rush hour

SUSPECTED drug traffickers dumped 35 bodies at rush hour beneath a busy overpass in the heart of a major city as gunmen pointed weapons at drivers.

Mexican authorities said yesterday they are examining surveillance video for clues as to who committed the crime.

Motorists grabbed mobile phones and sent Twitter messages warning others to avoid the area near the biggest shopping centre in Boca del Rio, part of the metropolitan area of Veracruz city.

The gruesome gesture marked a sharp escalation in cartel violence in Veracruz state, which sits on an important route for drugs and Central American migrants heading north.

The Zetas drug cartel has been battling other gangs for control of the state.

Prosecutors said it is too soon to draw conclusions from the surveillance video.

“We’re not going to confirm or deny anything,” Veracruz state attorney general, Reynaldo Escobar Perez, told the Televisa network. “We’re looking at it in different ways, we’re seeing different numbers, that’s why we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves.”