Three journalists slain in Mexico's Veracruz

Three men who worked as photojournalists have been found slain and dumped in plastic bags by a canal in the eastern Mexico state of Veracruz, less than a week after the killing in the same state of a reporter for a newsmagazine, officials said.

Press advocates called for immediate government action to halt a wave of attacks that has killed at least seven current and former reporters and photographers in Veracruz over the last 18 months, most of them among the few journalists still working on crime-related stories in the state.

The deaths have spawned an atmosphere of terror and self-censorship among journalists.

Mexico is one of the world's most dangerous countries for journalists, with reporters and photographers suffering a rising number of attacks in recent years as the country grapples with tens of thousands of killings, kidnappings and extortion against the backdrop of a militarised government offensive against drug cartels.