NUEVO LAREDO - The bodies of 15 people, many bearing marks of torture and bullet wounds, were found Thursday along a road in northern Mexico near the US border, an official said.

The bodies were found on a highway leading from Ciudad Victoria to Matamoros, not far from the US border city of Brownsville, Texas.

Officials said the victims had "their hands tied, their eyes blindfolded and bore visible signs of torture" including obvious head injuries, said the official, who declined to be identified.

BDST: 10:11 HRS, July 30, 2010