9 civilians killed by the Maute group found in Marawi City

Ongoing hostilities between government and terrorist groups in Marawi City entered its fifth day on Saturday amid a rising death toll.

While government has yet to release official figures on civilian deaths, ABS-CBN News' Chiara Zambrano reported finding bodies of those believed to have been held hostage and slain by the terrorist Maute group on Tuesday, when the fighting flared up.

"The 9 civilian hostages killed by the Maute Group on May 23 are among several decomposing corpses lying around Marawi City," Zambrano tweeted.

Zambrano, who is covering developments in Marawi City, also tweeted a photo showing a stalled truck in the middle of the road.

Zambrano said that the truck was flagged down by the Maute group on May 23, the day the fighting erupted.

The truck was carrying nine passengers at that time.

They were hostaged, tied up and eventually shot dead.

WARNING: GRAPHIC The 9 civilian hostages killed by the Maute Group on May 23 are among several decomposing corpses lying around Marawi City pic.twitter.com/OpLhM2ptyP

— Chiara Zambrano (@chiarazambrano) May 27, 2017

source: abs-cbn