UPDATE 3-Death toll in Honduras ranch shooting rises to at least 20, authorities say

Authorities have not detailed a motive, but Security Minister Gerzon Velasquez ⁠said that initial evidence pointed to criminal groups. The attack took place in the Bajo ​Aguan region, an area on Honduras' northern Caribbean coast long marked by ⁠violent land disputes, drug trafficking routes and the expansion of African palm cultivation.

At least ​20 people were killed in ‌a ​Thursday shooting at a palm plantation in northern Honduras, authorities said, in one of the deadliest attacks ‌in the country this year. Deputy Commissioner Jasser Ramos told broadcaster TN5 that 20 bodies had been recovered. The dead included 15 men, three women and two minors, ‌he said, after authorities earlier reported difficulty securing the scene because relatives ‌had begun removing bodies before investigators had finished their work.

Prosecutors said the attack was carried out by several armed men who opened fire near a church on the grounds of an ⁠African palm ​plantation as workers ⁠were preparing to begin their workday. Authorities have not detailed a motive, but Security Minister Gerzon Velasquez ⁠said that initial evidence pointed to criminal groups.

The attack took place in the Bajo ​Aguan region, an area on Honduras' northern Caribbean coast long marked by ⁠violent land disputes, drug trafficking routes and the expansion of African palm cultivation. African palm is the crop ⁠used ​to produce palm oil, found in processed foods and cooking fats and also used in soaps, cosmetics and biofuels. The violence in the region ⁠has fueled migration, prompting farmers and their families to flee threats, killings and poverty in ⁠an area ⁠increasingly dominated by large landowners and palm plantations.