People wounded in deadly clashes with Mexican police are avoiding hospitals

Nine people were killed and dozens more were injured in recent deadly clashes between a teachers’ union and police forces in the town of Nochixtlán in Mexico’s southern state of Oaxaca. More than two weeks later, the Mexican government has yet to release any information on its investigation into who started the violence and who decided to disperse the protest with live ammunition.

The protesters —teachers and residents of Oaxaca — are often seen as troublemakers in Mexico. They claim this was a massacre that included snipers hiding in the town when the riot police were deployed, and that some of the victims were not even involved in the protests. Most of them have avoided taking their allegations to the police for fear they will be the ones put behind bars and accused of initiating the violence.

VICE News went to Nochixtlán to meet some of the wounded whose fear of contact with the authorities has limited both their medical care and the advance of the investigation.

Watch “After a month of blockades in Mexico, teachers say they’ll keep protesting”