BOGOTA, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- At least six people were killed in an attack allegedly related to extortion in a rural area of Suaza municipality, in Colombia's southwestern department of Huila, local media reported Monday.
"According to preliminary accounts, this massacre may be related to alleged extortion demands, although the circumstances and motives have not yet been clarified," said the Corporation for Peace and Social Development (Corpades), a Colombian human rights organization.
Videos posted on social media by social organizations and local media show a vehicle carrying five people was set ablaze at the scene, while a shootout left a sixth person dead.
Corpades said authorities are investigating the incident to verify the death toll and identify those responsible for the violence.
The attack occurred a day after a similar incident in the municipality of Algeciras, also in Huila, in which two men and a woman were killed.
The Ombudsman's Office has issued warnings about the presence of several criminal gangs and the expansion of dissident factions of the now-defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia in the region. ■
