Briton shot dead by robbers in Venezuela

28-year-old and his brother, who was wounded, were accosted setting off to UK at end of tourist holiday on Margarita island A Briton has died during a robbery while on holiday in Venezuela. Thomas Ossel, 28, from Bedfordshire, was shot in the head and killed, while his brother Jack, 21, was wounded in the attack. Jacqueline Baxter, a friend of the family, said: “At the moment their father has travelled to Venezuela, and obviously their mum is not able to make a statement.” The attack took place on Monday on Margarita island, one of Venezuela’s most popular tourist destinations. A regional police official told the Venezuelan radio station Union Radio the brothers were shot as they were leaving an upmarket inn to return to the UK. He said investigators believe that gunmen attempted to rob the men, and fired when they resisted. The Foreign Office has confirmed the death and said officials were “providing consular assistance to the family”. Friends paid tribute to Ossel on Twitter. One said: “Sad and shocking news … RIP Tom Ossel … u will be missed … love and thoughts go out to ur family and friends xxx” Another wrote: “Woah. Just heard some genuinely shocking news. Old classmate shot and killed in Venezuela. RIP Tom.” The country has one of the highest murder rates in Latin America, 48 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants. Travel advice from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office warns that street crime is high, and that armed robbery, and what it calls “express kidnappings” – short-term abductions to extort money – also take place, and that tourists have been among those targeted; resistance to robbers had resulted in people being shot dead, it added. Before Monday’s attack, the FCO revised its advice to tourists, alerting them to an increase in crime on Margarita island. Venezuela South America Crime guardian.co.uk

Posted by on July 19, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.