MEXICO CITY, Mexico: Mexican authorities said on February 9 that bodies of five of the 10 workers kidnapped from a mine operated by a Canadian company in northwestern Sinaloa state have been identified.

They were among the 10 bodies found in clandestine graves last week in a nearby community.

The Attorney General's Office said in a statement that the remaining bodies have not yet been identified.

Vancouver-based Vizsla Silver Corp. said earlier on February 9 that several families had told the company their relatives — who worked on the company's project in Concordia, Mexico, and had been taken from the site — were found dead.

The company said it is still waiting for official confirmation from Mexican authorities. Neither the company nor officials have said what the possible reason for the killings might be.

"We are heartbroken by this result and the tragic loss of life," said Vizsla President and CEO Michael Konnert. He added that the company's priority is to find anyone still missing safely and to support the affected families and employees during this difficult time.

Mexican authorities announced on Friday that bodies and human remains were discovered in an area where officials had been searching for 10 missing workers from the Canadian gold and silver mine. Authorities also said four people had been arrested in connection with the disappearances.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that the suspects helped lead officials to the bodies and that the investigation is ongoing.

The mountainous area is one of several locations in the state where two rival groups of the Sinaloa cartel have been fighting for control for over a year. On January 28, Vizsla reported that 10 people had been kidnapped from its facilities and said it immediately informed authorities and activated its crisis and security teams to assist in the search.

The federal government later sent more troops to the state and launched a special operation to locate the workers. Mines in Mexico have sometimes been targeted by organized crime groups, which may try to extort companies or illegally sell valuable minerals themselves.

Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha said several secret burial sites were found last week, but the search is continuing. He also mentioned the recent kidnapping of a group of Mexican tourists from Mazatlan. A woman and a child who were with the group were found alive, but four others are still missing.

According to federal data, more than 7,000 people are missing in Sinaloa alone, out of over 132,000 missing persons across the country.