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

A Vancouver-based firm that operates a mine site in Mexico where 10 workers were abducted last month has heard from "a number of families" that their relatives have been found dead, the company said Monday.

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

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

The company is "devastated by this outcome and the tragic loss of life," Vizsla president Michael Konnert said in the statement.

"Our deepest condolences are with our colleagues' families, friends and co-workers, and the entire community of Concordia."

Konnert said the company was focused on the safe recovery of those who remain missing, while supporting all of the affected families.

Global Affairs Canada 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.

A turf war has played out in the region for more than a year between two rival factions of the Sinaloa drug cartel.

Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Marco Ugarte