Officials in the southwestern Mexican city of Acapulco said on Friday that 61 mostly-male bodies, which included children, were discovered after locals reported a stench coming from an abandoned crematorium.

An investigation is underway to determine whether the bodies were murder victims, or left there by the company when the crematorium closed.

"We can't say for now that there is an indication that organized crime participated in this but we can't rule it out," Guerrero state chief prosecutor Miguel Angel Godinez said.

Forensic experts are trying to work out how long the bodies had been in the building, but most were in an advanced state of decay. Many had been covered with sheets and doused with quick-lime, which can reduce the smell of rotting flesh.

The news from Guerrero state comes four months after the alleged killing of 43 students, believed murdered by a police-backed criminal gang in the city of Iguala. The case has sparked protests across the country.

jr/kms (AFP, AP, dpa)