Nine bodies, seven of which were charred, were found yesterday Monday in two neighboring houses in a rural area in the state of Bahia, in northeastern Brazil, the police announced, adding that they had begun an investigation into this “crime”.

According to media reports, at least three of the victims were children.

“Police are continuing their investigation into the crime with nine deaths,” authorities said, without going into details about the causes of the deaths, the evidence, or the scenarios.

“Of the nine bodies found in the two houses, five were completely charred, two partially and two others had no burns,” according to a police press release.

The “crime” referred to by the authorities was committed in Mata ji San Joao, 60 kilometers from Salvador.

Residents of the area and relatives of the victims gave statements.

According to news site G1, authorities believe it was a “massacre” linked to settling scores between rival drug-trafficking gangs.

A child who survived was taken to hospital with “very serious burns”, according to police.

In the state of Bahia, 6,600 murders were committed last year. Bahia has the second-highest homicide rate in the vast country (47.1 per 100,000 inhabitants), more than double the national average (23.4 per 100,000), according to figures from the Brazilian Forum for Public Security (FBSP).