Death toll in Honduras ranch shooting rises to at least 20

At least 20 people were killed in a Thursday shooting at a palm plantation in northern Honduras, regional police 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 finished their work.

Authorities have not announced a motive. The attack took place in the broader 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.

The region has for years been the scene of clashes involving peasant groups, landowners and criminal organizations.

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.

Honduras was once the world's most violent country by homicide rate.

Although killings have fallen sharply from their peak, the country remains among the most violent in Latin America.