Five people, possibly including a Japanese citizen, were killed when an armed group attacked a vehicle in Ethiopia.

The attack happened on Tuesday in Oromia, one of Ethiopia's regional states, around 500 kilometers west of the capital, Addis Ababa.

Local media and other sources say all five people in the car were dead.

The assailants fled the scene. No one has claimed responsibility.

Some media outlets say the victims were working for a mining company and one of them was Japanese. Officials at the Japanese Embassy are trying to verify the information.

-Xinhua