Filipino authorities are investigating a claim that dozens of cockfighter enthusiasts who disappeared three years ago were killed and dumped in a volcanic lake.
At least 34 men - who had been accused of fixing cockfighting matches - disappeared without a trace in the capital Manila and its surrounding provinces.
Six suspects were later charged for kidnapping and on Thursday, one of them claimed in a TV interview that the victims were strangled to death and dumped into Taal Lake, which surrounds an active volcano.
Cockfighting - where people bet on roosters battling to death using bladed spurs tied to their feet - is a multi-million dollar industry in the Philippines.
The men are accused of being involved in livestreamed cockfights, which were popularised during the Covid pandemic when in-person matches were forced to shut. But this made the industry even more lucrative, generating some 620 million pesos ($10.8m; £8m) a month in licence earnings for the government.
