´óÏó´«Ã½

At least 14 people have been shot dead on a football pitch in the city of San Pedro Sula in northern Honduras.

Reports said gunmen approached the group as they gathered to play football and opened fire.

The motive for the attack is not clear, but one official suggested it may have been a settling of accounts between criminal gangs.

Last month 18 people were killed in a similar attack on a shoe factory in San Pedro Sula.

Armando Calidonio, vice-minister of security, was quoted by Associated Press news agency as saying the gunmen had fired from close range with assault rifles.

Ten people died at the scene, in the Colonia Felipe Zelaya district, and a further four on the way to hospital.

A number of others were injured, some seriously.

Honduras has one of the highest murder rates in the world, with much of the killing blamed on violent gangs known as Maras.

The biggest gangs have thousands of members and a presence throughout Central America as well as in the US.

Police blamed the attack on the shoe factory on street gangs with links to Mexican drugs cartels.