Over 100 dead bodies found near US border explain threat over Mexico travel

The toll of murder victims buried in a series of mass graves in northern Mexico has risen to 116, Mexico's attorney general said on Tuesday, as a result of the escalating drug war situation in the country that also puts travel to Mexico under threat.

The Mexican government accused the Zetas drug cartel for the massacre, and said that soldiers found the dead bodies last week in San Fernando in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas near Texas and initially unearthed 59 bodies, Reuters reported.

Tamaulipas is supposedly one of the most violent regions in Mexico and because of its proximity with Texas (around 354 miles) in the US, Mexico travel has always been a concern for the US Department of State, especially during Spring Break when hundreds and thousands of university students from across the Americas and other countries visit the country.

The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) had warned students last month to avoid visiting Mexico for the Spring Break, saying that about 65 Americans were killed in Mexico last year, during drug war violence.

Early this year, Mexican president stressed over promoting Mexico as an international tourism hot spot and strengthen its national image, which has been hampered due to bad publicity over drug-related violence in the country.

The recent discovery of mass corpses will add only to the woes surrounding the Mexican holiday industry.