State officials confirm ‘a massacre occurred’ as media reports say gunmen kill six women and five men in Belem bar.

A group of masked gunmen has entered a bar in Belem city, northern Brazil, and opened fire, killing at least 11 patrons and leaving one wounded, according to local media reports.

The attackers on Sunday arrived in cars and a motorbike before shooting dead six women and five men in the bar in a poor neighbourhood in the capital of Para state, G1 news website said.

Natalia Mello, a Para state spokeswoman, confirmed only that “a massacre” had occurred but gave no details.

News agencies reported that state communications officials stopped answering phone calls. Military and civil police in Para state also did not answer phone calls or respond to emails.

There was no information regarding possible motivation for the crime and no arrests had been made by early Sunday evening. The identities of the victims were not given.

Some videos taken right after the shooting were posted on social media, showing slain people lying on the ground and a dead woman on top of the bar’s counter.

The killings took place in the Guama neighbourhood, one of the seven most violent spots in the metropolitan Belem area where federal troops were sent in March to boost security.

There were 756 violent deaths in Para state in the first quarter.