A
mob in Madagascar killed two Europeans suspected of mutilating and
murdering a young boy at the country’s main tourist resort, security
forces said.
Residents
on Nosy Be island went on the rampage after the missing eight-year-old
was found dead with his private parts and tongue cut off, according to
assistant gendarmerie commander Guy Bobin Randriamaro.
“The rioters launched a manhunt and killed the Europeans,” Mr Randriamaro said from the capital Antananarivo
.
.
Local
police commissioner Honoya Tilahizandry said the pair “were killed and
burnt on Ambatoloaka beach”, a popular palm-fringed strand of white
sand.
The two men were identified only as Sebastien and Roberto.
In Paris, the government said “two foreigners have died and we have confirmation that at least one of them is French.”
While local officials said both men were French, witnesses said one may have been Italian.
The
murders occurred after days of tension on the island. Residents marched
on the paramilitary police station on Wednesday, convinced the boy’s
killer was being held there.
Security forces say they fired shots in the air to disperse the crowd, but at least one person died and two others were wounded.
“The
police tried to convince the mob that the alleged kidnapper was not at
the station, but it was not enough to dissuade the crowd,” national
police spokesman Alexandre Sylvain Ranaivoson.
The mob also torched eight houses.
“They suspected the two foreigners of being behind the murder and trafficking human organs,” said the gendarmerie’s Randriamaro.
The two men “confessed under torture to having trafficked organs”, he added.
A
witness told local media the rioters only targeted the two men
suspected of having ordered the boy’s kidnapping, but left other
foreigners alone.
The
French consulate discouraged its nationals from visiting Nosy Be island
“until order is restored, especially on the beaches.”
Nosy Be, lying of the north west coast of Madagascar, is a magnet for Europeans and other tourists. [AFP]
No comments:
Post a Comment