Featured Image Credit: Cuyabeno TV
Topics: World News, Crime
Joshua Nair
An update has been issued in the case involving a 'British' national who was 'lynched and burnt alive' after being arrested in Ecuador.
The man was said to have been violently murdered by a mob after venturing into one of the most dangerous and crime-infested areas in the country.
He was held at a local police station before being dragged out of the building in front of authorities, who have since confirmed that they did not intervene due to 'the size of the mob exceeding the capacities of the seven police officers' present.
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It took place in the parish of Playas de Cuyabeno in Ecuador's Amazon region on 20 April.
The area is the second largest reserve in the country, and local outlets said the man was taken to the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve to be brutally killed.
The group of locals clearly weren't satisfied with the punishment he'd received for his crime, and brought him to mob justice themselves, which allegedly included burning him alive.
It has now been reported that the Foreign Office is working to identify the man who was killed by the mob.
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He was arrested for allegedly shooting his long-term friend and business partner dead.
The arrested party has been named locally as Michael Hann, according to MailOnline, along with business partner Rodrigo Chavez.
They established Kichwa Pathfinder Tours under a year ago, but after some financial difficulties and accusations from Chavez about Hann taking money from customers to keep for himself, it has been reported that it all came to a boil.
According to locals, Hann allegedly shot Chavez.
"There had been problems between the two men that died," the police chief said on 23 April.
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He added: "The man we believe to be British had shot a local man, causing his death.
"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."
The police chief went on: "We are still trying to establish the specific identity of the citizen we believe is a British national.
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"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."
A local claiming to be a family friend of Chavez admitted to MailOnline that they were 'happy' when he started Kichwa Pathfinder Tours with the man reported as 'Hann', but saw that 'conflicts' rose after some financial issues.
"I never thought it would end like this," they claimed.
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Another family friend added: "This was a horrible and traumatic case for the communities that witnessed the act. We're all shocked. They were my friends, and I was saddened by what happened."
They claimed that 'Mr Hann said he was from the UK' and lived in Ecuador for years before moving into their community, who are 'shocked' by what happened.
In the immediate aftermath of the arrest, a local TV station reported: "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 Foreign Office have advised against 'all but essential travel' to the areas around the border between Ecuador and Colombia, going beyond the Sucumbíos region.
They explain that it's due to 'the presence of organised crime linked to the production and trafficking of drugs'.