The Attorney General's office said the victims were in their homes in Andrés Bello in the northwestern state of Trujillo, when several armed men forced them to move into courtyards where they were shot dead.

The victims included adult males aged 18 to 76 and three teenagers aged 15, 16 and 17. The Colombian national was identified as 76-year-old Alberto Diaz Patino. The Spanish-language news agency EFE reported that all of the victims were male.

According to a statement, the suspects fled the scene in cars and motorcycles. Two prosecutors have been assigned to the case.

Unending violence

Venezuela is one of the most violent countries in the world that is not at war, with 58 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2015 according to prosecutors. In 2015 alone, there were 17,778 cases of homicide reported in the South-American country. The nongovernmental Venezuelan Violence Observatory says the murder rate is about 50 percent higher than the officially reported numbers.

In another example of such mass killings, an armed group killed 17 miners in the town of Tumeremo in March in the country's far southeast, near the border with Brazil. Their bodies were found in a pit.

On Sunday, German airline Lufthansa announced it was suspending its three weekly fights to the country's capital. The decision comes amid growing concern about Venezuela's worsening economic situation.

Scarcity, riots and drought: Venezuela is in trouble Hyperinflation bites into economy Hyperinflation has made doing business in Venezuela untenable for many domestic and foreign firms. With the currency dropping, the government has made it difficult to convert bolivars into US dollars.

Scarcity, riots and drought: Venezuela is in trouble Food shortages Food shortages have become pervasive, spurred on by hyperinflation. Empty store shelves have become all too common across Venezuela.

Scarcity, riots and drought: Venezuela is in trouble Queuing up to buy food Food shortages mean that people have to wait in line to buy essential food items at select locations. Here people line up outside a supermarket in the poor neighborhood of Lidice, in Caracas.

Scarcity, riots and drought: Venezuela is in trouble Gathering signatures Opposition leaders launched a petition drive to collect signatures for a recall referendum. They needed 200,000 signatures, or 1 percent of the electorate, but they got 1.8 million voters to sign.

Scarcity, riots and drought: Venezuela is in trouble Green light for petition Opposition leader Henrique Capriles shows journalists that the National Election Council has given permission for the referendum to go ahead. But President Nicolas Maduro's government is trying to delay the vote.

Scarcity, riots and drought: Venezuela is in trouble Pushing for referendum Protesters have taken to the streets, demanding that the referendum go forward.

Scarcity, riots and drought: Venezuela is in trouble Students protest Students have also taken to the streets to demonstrate. They are protesting both the overall economic stagnation and also the government's efforts to delay the referendum.

Scarcity, riots and drought: Venezuela is in trouble Severe drought A devastating drought has exacerbated Venezuela's problems. What was once a vast reservoir, held back by a hydroelectric dam, is now little more than a series of mud puddles.

Scarcity, riots and drought: Venezuela is in trouble Drought wreaks havoc The country depends on the Guri Dam - one of the world's largest - for a significant portion of its electricity. While the reservoir is turning to desert, citizens endure daily black outs, and government offices open just two days a week to save electricity.

Scarcity, riots and drought: Venezuela is in trouble Health care suffers Oliver Sanchez, 8, holds a sign that reads "I want to heal, peace, health" during a protest against the shortage of medicines in Caracas. Oliver has Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, but the medicine he needs is no longer available.

Scarcity, riots and drought: Venezuela is in trouble Maduro under fire Venezuela's economic dip is largely the result of oil prices that have plunged more than 50 percent in the past two years. But a severe drought is crimping electricity supplies, and focusing people's ire on Maduro. Author: Bruce Konviser



ss/jr (EFE, AFP)