News agencies cited Mexican government officials late on Saturday who said that at least one of the 43 students who have been missing since September had been identified by forensics experts. The officials quoted by the Associated Press and AFP spoke on condition of anonymity.

"One of the pieces (of bones) belongs to one of the students," an official told AFP.

Mexican officials handed over the badly burned remains of several bodies to forensics experts after they were discovered at a landfill site and river in the southern state of Guerrero last month.

The Associated Press quoted an unnamed family member of missing student Alexander Mora who said the family had been told by forensics experts on Friday that the identified remains were those of Mora.

The students went missing on September 26 after they were allegedly abducted by police in the city of Iguala before handing them over to hitmen from a local gang who the authorities say killed them. They then allegedly burned the bodies.

Mayor among those arrested

Public prosecutors have said that the police acted on an order from the mayor of Iguala, who is among dozens of suspects arrested in connection with the disappearance of the students.

The case has sparked widespread protests against corruption and violence across Mexico, with some demonstrators demanding the resignation of President Enrique Pena Nieto.

The latest demonstration was held in Mexico City on Saturday.

pfd/sm (AP, AFP, Reuters)