Mayor Magundadatu earlier said that the only four survivors from the massacre were with him but it is not yet confirmed by national authorities.

Bai Fatima Sinsuat, a senior local Red Cross official, said victims were brutally killed and, based on information of Red Cross personnel, some female victims were raped.

Through his spokesman, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he is saddened by the reports of the brutal killing of more than 40 civilians.

The U.N. chief said he hopes that no effort will be spared to bring justice and to hold the perpetrators accountable.

Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighborhood Policy, said that she condemns in the strongest possible terms the barbaric killing of innocent civilians who were preparing to participate in the electoral process in the Philippines.

Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines said the massacre was a "chilling prelude" to the crucial 2010 presidential, congressional and local elections and erodes the public's sense of security and confidence on law enforcers.

It also described the death of at least 13 local reporters who followed the convoy "the heaviest loss of lives for the Philippine media" in a single day and comes on the heels of a series of many unsolved killings of Filipino journalists in recent years.