Mexican army to compensate families of students slain by soldiers during gunbattle with gunmen

Mexico to compensate families of slain students

MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s Defense Department says it will compensate the families of two university students killed in northern Mexico when they were caught in crossfire between soldiers and gunmen.

A Friday statement from the department says it has accepted a recommendation by the National Human Rights Commission that it offer financial support to the families of the two Monterrey Tech University students killed in March.

The commission also recommended soldiers be trained on preserving a crime scene and respecting human rights.

State officials initially said the youths were suspected drug traffickers. But later they said that army officials had wrongly identified them and that they were postgraduate students at the university.