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British woman shot after family stray into Brazil favela British woman shot in Brazil favela named as Eloise Dixon
(about 7 hours later)
A British woman has been shot at a holiday hotspot near Rio after her family mistakenly drove into a favela, Brazilian media have reported. A British woman has been shot and wounded in Brazil after she and her family accidentally drove into a favela while reportedly looking for water.
The woman was hit twice in the abdomen, newspaper O Globo said, when the car she was in with her husband and three children was fired upon. The rest of the family were unhurt in Sunday’s incident. Local media named the woman as Eloise Dixon, reportedly aged 46 and from Dartford, Kent. Local police said she had been holidaying with her husband and their three children at a popular coastal getaway destination, Angra dos Reis, about 90 miles from Rio de Janeiro.
The oldest of the three children in car was four years old, Rio newspaper O Dia reported. A language mix-up saw them directed to the Agua Santa neighbourhood, which translates as Holy Water, local press said.
Civil police said the family were travelling in Angra dos Reis – a popular coastal holiday destination about 150km (90 miles) west of Rio on the Costa Verde – when they were attacked. Authorities said a group approached the car and apparently told the family to get out before opening fire. Authorities said a group approached the car at a favela and apparently told the family to get out and then opened fire. A police statement said the woman was hit in the abdomen and was being treated in hospital.
Local police chief Bruno Gilaberte told O Globo the family were trying to buy water when they were told to drive towards the Água Santa – or holy water – community. “This whole confusion seems to have happened partly because of the language barrier,” he said. “They ended up driving towards the Água Santa community where they were challenged by criminals. Because they didn’t understand the order they received to leave the area, they just carried on and were shot at.” The family, who are thought to live in Bromley, south London, had been on the main road from Rio to Santos but took a wrong turn on Sunday while looking for a place to buy water, and entered the favela.
Newspaper O Dia said the area they entered was controlled by the Terceiro Comando Puro – or Pure Third Command – gang, which is one of the main drug factions in Rio de Janeiro. “They were confronted by criminals who ordered them to get out, and the car was hit by shots from a firearm,” said local police chief Bruno Gilaberte.
The police statement said the woman was being treated at a hospital but did not give her condition. Police did not release a name or home town. The family had apparently misinterpreted the information they were given about where they could find a place to buy water. “Because of the language difficulties, there was some confusion. They ended up going to the Agua Santa neighbourhood where they were targeted by criminals. They were shot at after failing to understand the order they were given to leave the area,” said Gilaberte.
A UK Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are in touch with the local authorities in Angra dos Reis, Brazil, following reports of the shooting of a British national.” Dixon’s husband, who was driving, returned to the main road after the shooting and kept driving until reaching a highway police post where the victim was rushed to hospital.
Tourists in Brazil have occasionally been attacked when they accidentally stray into slums, which are often controlled by criminal gangs. “The woman underwent surgery in the Angra dos Reis hospital and was in a stable condition,” Gilaberte said.
Associated Press contributed to this report “The bullet went through the whole abdomen but by luck didn’t hit major arteries or important organs. She was really lucky,” local hospital director Rodrigo Mucheli said on Globo television.
Television footage of their rental car showed one bullet hit a front tyre, another the front passenger door and a third the headrest where the woman was sitting.
The Rio area has many favelas, which house communities of working-class Brazilians. Some are seen as no-go areas and are reportedly controlled by criminals.
Vinicius Barbosa, deputy chief executive of the Angra dos Reis government, condemned the authorities’ lack of control over high-crime areas “where you can’t go in, where the media can’t go in, where services can’t go in – this is intolerable,” AFP reported.
The Agua Santa neighbourhood is understood to be home to drugs traffickers belonging to a Rio de Janeiro-based criminal organisation called Terceiro Comando Puro.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are in touch with the local authorities in Angra dos Reis, Brazil, following reports of the shooting of a British national.”