The PNC claims that the massacre was due to a settling of scores. | Photo: @reaccion_gt

Guatemala City, June 14 (RHC)-- The National Civil Police (PNC) of Guatemala confirmed on Saturday the murder of five people in a farm located in the department of Zacapa.  According to the police force, the massacre took place in a farm in the village called Vega del Cobán, in the municipality of Teculután, Zacapa, 120 kilometers east of the capital of the Central American country.

Neither the Public Prosecutor's Office nor the police have offered new information about the armed incident, but they presume that the massacre was due to a settling of scores.  According to local media, among those killed were at least two members of the same family, father and son, the alleged owners of the farm.

The rest of the deceased were presumed to be farm workers, and their identities are expected to be verified in the coming hours.  According to published images, the five fatal victims of the attack were shot with firearms in different parts of the farm.

In 2021 Guatemala has registered a 22 percent increase in violent deaths compared to the same period last year according to the non-governmental organization Grupo de Apoyo Mutuo (Mutual Support Group).

Guatemala is one of the 15 most violent countries in the world according to international organizations.