Mexico missing students: Parents begin protest bus tour

The parents of 43 Mexican students who disappeared seven weeks ago have started a nationwide bus tour in protest at the government's handling of the case, the BBC reported.

Hundreds of supporters joined the convoy of demonstrators in south-western Guerrero state.

It came after violent protests this week as anger over the issue mounts.

The students vanished after clashing with police on 26 September in the town of Iguala.

Thursday's protest tour began in Ayotzinapa, home to the teacher-training college where the missing group had studied.

Parents held aloft pictures of their children while others demanded the government do more to help the search.

"They have disappeared but they are not dead," Blanca Navas told the AFP news agency.

Ms Navas, mother of missing student Jorge, added: "I don't believe the government at all. They've only been saying pure lies."

One caravan of buses was due to head north towards the US border, while another planned to drive through the country's south.

The convoys are due to meet in Mexico City next week.

Relatives organised the tour after the country's attorney general said on Saturday that suspected gangsters had confessed to killing the missing students.

He added the criminals had claimed the trainee teachers were handed to them by police.

But the government has refused to declare the missing group dead.

Instead officials say DNA tests need to be carried out on human remains to confirm their identity.