Hundreds of members of a local self-defence group have driven to Iguala to search for the missing
Hundreds
of vigilantes have joined the search for 43 students who went missing
in the Mexican town of Iguala in Guerrero state on 26 September.
Members of the so-called self-defence groups said they would conduct a house-by-house search.Meanwhile, forensic tests are under way on dozens of bodies found in shallow graves near the town last week.
It is feared the bodies could be those of the students, who clashed with police during a protest.
Deadly clashes Their disappearance and the circumstances surrounding it have caused shock in Mexico.
Relatives have been handing out fliers and posting pictures of the missing students
After a day of protests and fundraising, they wanted to make their way back to their college.
Accounts of what happened next differ.
Members of the student union say they hitched a lift aboard three local buses, but the police says the students seized the buses.
Federal police have been sent to Iguala to disarm and replace the municipal force
In the hours which followed, six people were killed when armed
men opened fire on the three buses and that of a third division football
team which they presumably mistook for one carrying students.Three students, a footballer, the driver of one of the buses and a woman in a taxi were shot dead. Many more were injured.
Municipal police gave chase to the students, and are believed to have fired at them.
Twenty-two officers have been detained in connection with the shooting.
But there are also reports of other armed men opening fire on the students. Eight people not belonging to the municipal police have also been arrested.
Disappearance Following the incident on the night of 26 September, 57 students were reported missing.
On 30 September it was announced that 13 of them had returned to their homes.
One name was found to have appeared in the list of the missing twice, leaving 43 students unaccounted for.
On 4 October, prosecutors announced they had found six shallow graves containing the remains of at least 28 people.
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The mass graves are overwhelming, reports Juan Carlos Perez Salazar
Speculation The reasons why police should have opened fire on the students and what may lie behind their disappearance remain unclear.
The chief prosecutor for Guerrero state, Inaky Blanco, said that some of the detained suspects said the municipal police force had been infiltrated by a local drug gang called Guerreros Unidos (United Warriors).
He also announced that one of the detained civilians had confessed to taking 17 of the students to a nearby hillside and killing them on the orders of the Guerreros Unidos.
The detained officers have denied killing the students.
The students all went to a local teacher training college with a history of left-wing activism, but it is not clear whether they were targeted for their political beliefs.
Some think that they may have angered Guerreros Unidos by refusing to pay extortion money.
Others believe there may be a link between the students' disappearance and a speech given by the wife of Iguala's mayor on the day of the clashes.
Maria de los Angeles Pineda Villa was speaking to local dignitaries when the students were protesting in Iguala and some believe they may have been targeted because it was feared they could disrupt the event.
Iguala's mayor and his wife have not been seen since the events on 26 September
Police are searching for her husband, mayor Jose Luis Abarca Velazquez.But on Tuesday, Prosecutor General Jesus Murillo Karam said he had no evidence that Mr Abarca Velazquez had any links to drug gangs as had been reported by some local media
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