Sept. 14 (UPI) — Mexico’s federal government joined an investigation Monday into the killing of a 21-year-old Spanish exchange student in the central state of Morelos, as President Claudia Sheinbaum said federal security officials were assisting state prosecutors.

Sheinbaum expressed condolences over the death of Claudia Tacoronte Aguilera and said Mexico’s Security and Citizen Protection Secretariat was working with the Morelos Attorney General’s Office on the investigation.

Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Secretariat is also in contact with Spanish consular authorities, Sheinbaum said during her morning news conference.

Tacoronte, a student at the University of Granada in Spain, was fatally stabbed Saturday night near the Casa de la Cultura in Cuautla, about 55 miles south of Mexico City.

Morelos prosecutors said the killing is being investigated under a femicide protocol, which requires authorities to examine the death of a woman from a gender-based perspective.

Authorities have not established a motive for the killing or announced an arrest.

Initial accounts indicated Tacoronte may have been attacked during a robbery, but prosecutors said investigators are working to determine the circumstances surrounding her death.

Tacoronte, who was from Spain’s Canary Islands, had arrived in Mexico in August to study at the Autonomous University of the State of Morelos as part of an international exchange program.

Morelos Attorney General Fernando Blumenkron Escobar said his office contacted the Spanish Consulate after the killing and was coordinating with Mexican and Spanish authorities as the investigation continued.

The Autonomous University of the State of Morelos condemned the killing and called for an immediate and thorough investigation with a gender perspective.

Morelos Gov. Margarita González Saravia also instructed state agencies to provide assistance and maintain contact with the university.

In Spain, the University of Granada held a minute of silence Monday across its campuses and activated its international assistance protocol following Tacoronte’s death.

University Rector Pedro Mercado said officials contacted about 20 University of Granada students who are studying in Mexico to provide information and assistance following the killing.

Tacoronte was studying early childhood education in Granada and had been in Mexico for about a month before her death.

Her killing has also renewed concerns about violence affecting students in Morelos. Tacoronte was the fourth female student from the Autonomous University of the State of Morelos to be killed in seven months, according to a review of the cases by El País.

The university has called on authorities to strengthen security measures and guarantee safe conditions for its students.