The small bus was carrying a family when gunmen ambushed it on January 6, fireman Angel Urbina said.

Photos that firefighters took after the attack showed a woman slumped over her head on a seat covered with blood stains and shattered glass.

Outside the bus, rescuers surrounded a child covered with blood. Body bags sat on the roadside while investigators examined the scene.

The attack appeared to target one or two of the people on the bus, which was traveling from the city of Catacamas to the city of Juticalpa, security ministry spokesman Leonel Sauceda said.

Police were investigating whether the attack was connected with drug trafficking, and whether it was connected with another attack nearby where three people were shot, Sauceda said.

Federal security officials were on the way to the scene to investigate, he said.