BRAZILIAN police are investigating after nine bodies – most charred and at least three belonging to children, according to local media – were discovered in two rural homes.

Five of the bodies were burnt beyond recognition, two partially, and two others not at all, a statement from police in the northeastern Bahia state said yesterday.

A child who survived was taken to hospital with severe burns, it added.

Police did not elaborate on the causes of death nor the focus of the criminal investigation.

The bodies were found at two houses in Mata de Sao Joao, some 60km from the state capital, Salvador. 

Police have interviewed neighbours and victims’ family members and friends.

The news website G1 evoked the possibility of a settling of scores between rival drug gangs.

Bahia state last year recorded 6,600 murders – the second highest rate in Brazil at 47.1 per 100,000 inhabitants.

The national average is 23.4 per 100,000, according to a public safety watchdog. – AFP, August 29, 2023.