Tourist shot dead in Uganda

2008-02-07 11:48

Kampala - A Belgian woman on a mountaineering trek has been shot dead by an unknown attacker on Mount Elgon in a national game park in eastern Uganda, say wildlife officials, confirming media reports.

The woman identified as Annick Van Dvenster, 35, had gone climbing on the mountains of the Elgon range, which straddled the Kenyan border when she was shot, said reports.

She and her two guides had just finished eating dinner and she had retired to her tent after the group suddenly heard gunshots being aimed at them.

Dvenster ran outside her tent wearing a headlamp, which made her an easy target. She was shot in the waist and collapsed outside her tent, the paper quoted a statement from the state-owned Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) as saying.

UWA acting director Sam Mwandha said that the incident was the first to occur in the park, which hundreds of tourists visited every year for mountaineering.

He said: "It is true, the tourist was shot dead. But I cannot say whether they were poachers or thugs. We are still investigating. This is the first incident to occur in this park but no arrests have been made so far."

Sapa-dpa

- SAPA