An unnamed man was dragged out of a police station in the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve in the South American country’s Amazon region and burned alive by a baying mob
A man who is believed to be English was lynched and burned alive in the Amazon as his alleged crime has now been revealed. The unnamed man was dragged out of a police station in the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve and burned alive by a baying mob armed with guns and weapons.
It has now emerged the man was being held by police on suspicion of shooting a local man dead. The alleged British national is said to have been handed over to police by locals around 6am local time on Sunday before being murdered just after midday.
Local media said officers who arrested him decided not to intervene when a mob of around 200 people forced their way into the police station. They decided to stand back in order to avoid being attacked themselves and to avoid damage to the property, according to Ecuadorian newspaper Extra.
A local TV station said: “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 where as a result two people died.
‘Those two people were a community member from the area and another person of British nationality who died due to the severity of his burns.”
The shooting victim has been named as Rodrigo Chavez. A third man was reportedly arrested over the man’s killing. Police chief covering Ecuador’s Sucumbios province said: “We are still trying to establish the specific identity of the citizen we believe is a British national.
“I say we’re presuming he’s English although we don’t have documents that prove his nationality status. We’re trying to confirm all the information including his migration status.
“We don’t have any proven information relating to how long he had been in this community. We know that he was working and teaching English and was making reservations for tourists visiting the area but we don’t have any more information right now and that is the focus of ongoing investigations which are seeking to determine his full name as well.
“There had been problems between the two men that died. The man we believe to be British had shot a local man, causing his death. He was subsequently arrested by police.”
The UK’s Foreign Office is investigating reports the man hauled out of the police station and lynched was British, and is working with local authorities to confirm details of his murder.
The Mirror has approached the Foreign Office for further information.
