Forty-four people were slain during an attack on a wedding party in Turkey's southeastern Mardin province Monday, with some of the victims gunned down as they prayed, authorities said.
Six others were injured in the attack, said Besir Atalay, Interior Minister of Turkey.
Assailants attacked the party in the small village of Bilge with bombs and automatic weapons, according to the Cihan news agency.
There are only about 32 households in the village and there were too many victims to fit into the local morgue, authorities said.
Some were slain as they were praying, authorities said. The chief and the former chief of the village were among those killed in the attack, Anatolian Agency, Turkey's semi-official news agency, reported.
Police have blocked access to the village while they conduct their investigation.
Mardin Mayor Besir Ayanoglu told Turkish television network NTV that the incident was not terror related.