A British man was killed by an indigenous mob in Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve following fatal shooting
A British man has reportedly been burned alive by a mob in the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve in Ecuador’s Amazon region. He was said to have been killed after a group stormed a police station where he had been taken into custody.
A British citizen and an Ecuadorian were reportedly lynched near the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve in the Amazon region.
Local reports said the unnamed male was held by members of an indigenous community on suspicion of fatally shooting a local resident. He is said to have been taken from a police station by the same individuals around six hours after his arrest and set on fire in front of law enforcement personnel.
The British national is said to have been handed over to police around 6 a.m. local time Sunday after being held by locals, before being attacked later and killed just after midday the same day.
Ecuadorian newspaper Ecuavisa reported officers who formally arrested the man had decided not to intervene when a mob forced their way into the local police station ahead of his transfer out of the area to avoid being attacked themselves.
It added that police reinforcements had taken time to reach the area because of its remoteness and difficult access.
Under Ecuadorian law, indigenous communities are allowed to carry out punishment to members but not to outsiders, but death penalties are prohibited.
A local TV station, reported that an Ecuadorian man was also killed in a related incident. The station reported: “In the early hours of Sunday, April 20, in the parish of Playas de Cuyabeno, at the closure of an event that took place for the anniversary of the Kichwa community, an incident occurred in which two people died.”
The report continued: “Those two people included a community member and another person of British nationality who died due to the severity of his burns.” The Ecuadorian man was identified as Rodrigo Chavez.
It was not immediately clear if any arrests had taken place following the death of the man.
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Credit: The Express
