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US seeks details on drowning of American in India Indian police say US tourist died after falling into paddy
(about 1 hour later)
NEW DELHI — The U.S. Consulate says it has asked Indian authorities for details about an American tourist who reportedly drowned in a rice paddy after being chased by local villagers in the coastal resort state of Goa. PANAJI, India — Indian police said Thursday that an American tourist died earlier this week after a mob of villagers mistook him for a thief and chased him until he fell into a swampy rice paddy, where he choked on muddy water.
Heidi Hattenbach, an information officer in the U.S. consulate in Mumbai, says the consulate is in contact with the Indian government and the family of Caitanya Holt in the United States. She said Thursday she did not have any other details yet. The tourist, identified by his passport as 30-year-old Caitanya Holt, was eventually pulled out of the mud by police using ropes on Tuesday, but he was declared dead on arrival at a local hospital in the eastern state of Goa, police officer Umesh Gaonkar said.
R.R. D’Souza, a state police officer, said that Holt’s body was found on Tuesday. The cause of death has not yet been determined. Police were waiting for U.S. Consulate officials to arrive from Mumbai to carry out an autopsy, Gaonkar said.
The state’s highest elected official, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar, said Wednesday that the 30-year-old tourist fell into the paddy and inhaled the muddy soil near the village of Korgao, according to the Press Trust of India. On Wednesday, the Press Trust of India reported that Holt had drowned in a rice paddy, citing the state’s highest elected official, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar.
American officials have asked Indian authorities for details about his death and are in contact with Holt’s family in the U.S., said Heidi Hattenbach, a consular information officer.
Gaonkar said villagers grew suspicious of Holt, who had arrived in India in July, when he stopped some strangers and went into some homes in a village on the outskirts of the state capital, Panaji. The villagers could not understand his English and apparently mistook him for a thief, he said. A laptop was also recovered from Holt, he said.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.