RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — An Argentine tourist was shot in the head and chest Thursday in Rio de Janeiro after he mistakenly drove his car into a low-income community, police said. He was reportedly using a GPS device to make his way to the Christ the Redeemer statue.
Gastón Fernando Burlon, 51, was taken to Hospital Souza Aguiar, where he is in serious condition, according to Rio’s health secretariat. Burlon is a former tourism secretary for the Argentine city of Bariloche and is the president of the Argentine Chamber of Student Tourism.
Burlon was driving with his wife and daughter through the Morro dos Prazeres, a hillside favela dominated by criminal gang Red Command, when he was attacked, police said in a statement.
“Preliminary information given by officers in the case suggest that the wounded man was surprised by gunshots made by armed criminals as he mistakenly entered,” police said.
In 2016, Italian tourist Roberto Bardella was killed in the same region after he got lost. He and his friend Rino Polato, who was found unharmed, were touring South America on motorcycle.
An Argentine tourism ministry official told the Associated Press the country’s government is following the case and has sent a staffer to provide assistance to Burlon and his family. The source said the medical team is trying to stabilize Burlon so he can undergo surgery.
The source spoke under condition of anonymity due to a lack of authorization to discuss the matter publicly.
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AP journalist Nayara Batschke contributed to this report from Buenos Aires.
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