Eaquador safe ??
 

Belgian RTW cyclist killed in Quito, Equador begin this week.

2 Dutch tourists killed in a park in Cotapaxi, Equador.

Is there a change of mentality in this relative quit country or whats going on ?

Derek-Jan

Do you have more details, newspaper stories etc??

Grant

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Grant Johnson

Seek, and ye shall find.
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One world, Two wheels.
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

QUITO - Twee Nederlandse toeristen zijn vermoord in Ecuador. Dat heeft de Ecuadoreaanse televisiezender Ecuavisa woensdag gemeld op gezag van bronnen bij de politie. Het zou gaan om een dubbele roofmoord.

De lichamen van de Nederlanders, een 42-jarige man en zijn 10-jarige dochter, werden aangetroffen in een ravijn in een natuurpark in de provincie Cotapaxi. Ze zijn overgebracht naar de provinciehoofdstad Latacunga.

Een woordvoerster van de Nederlandse ambassade in Quito heeft de vondst van de twee lichamen bevestigd. Over de toedracht kon zij nog niets zeggen. "De politie is bezig met een onderzoek. Wij wachten nog op de resultaten."

Bron : anp
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Een 34-jarige Belg is zaterdag in Ecuador omgebracht. Het Belgisch ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken heeft maandag informatie daaromtrent van de familie van het slachtoffer bevestigd.
Volgens zijn naasten is Joeri Lema, die maandag 35 zou zijn geworden, zaterdag overvallen en vermoord in Ecuador. Een woordvoerder van BZ zegt dat de man weerstand bood toen hij ergens buiten de hoofdstad Quito werd overvallen.
Lema, afkomstig uit Schelle, was volgens zijn familie drie weken geleden uit België vertrokken voor een wereldreis van twee jaar per fiets. Ecuador was het eerste land dat de man bezocht.

bron; gazet van antwerpen

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Sorry for the dutch, maybe one can translate?



[This message has been edited by Derek-Jan (edited 25 July 2003).]

I only know some info about the belgian guy killed in Ecuador, indeed apparently having resisted when being robbed.

Ecuador was the first country he visited on his RTW trip by bike. The thing happened outside Quito.

Don't hae more info on it.

Jef

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34 year-old Joeri Lema was killed in Ecuador Saturday, according to the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A ministry spokesman said that Lema was shot after resisting assault near Quito. Lema, originating from Schelle, left Belgium three weeks ago on for a world trip. Ecuador was the first country he visited.

Uncertainty surrounds tourist deaths

AMSTERDAM — It is still uncertain whether a Dutch father and daughter who were found dead in Ecuador died after falling in a ravine or if they were the victims of a violent robbery.

It was initially suspected that the man and girl had been murdered, but an NOS news report on Thursday said the victims had probably died after falling in a ravine while out hiking.

Then the Dutch Foreign Affairs Ministry said on Friday that the cause of their deaths had not yet been officially determined. Greater insight into the deaths is expected to be announced later on Friday.

The statement reversed an NOS news report that said the injuries that 42-year-old John Kleimeer and his 10-year-old daughter had suffered indicated they were inflicted in a fall. Neither of them had not been shot or stabbed, the leader of the police investigative had said

The bodies of the two Dutch nationals were found in a ravine in a nature reserve in Cotapaxi province. The high-altitude reserve is well known for the condors found there and the park was considered safe for tourists.

The Cotapaxi summit is the world's highest active volcano and the provincial capital Latacunga is an ancient Inca city in the north of Ecuador, not far from the nation's capital of Quito.

The two victims were hiking in the nature reserve, but Kleimeer's wife and their son had not accompanied them because they were not feeling well. They had decided to meet up with each other again at an agreed location, but the father and daughter never arrived.

A local farmer found their bodies after a two-hour search.

Kleimeer was a police officer attached to the Dutch Antilles and Aruba Co-operative Investigative Team, the Dutch national police corps KLPD has confirmed. He was on vacation with his family in Ecuador, news agency ANP reported.

Meanwhile, a 38-year-old Dutch woman also died in the region on Wednesday. She is believed to have died of cardiac arrest, but doctors are yet to officially confirm the cause of death.

Attribution: Expatica News

Latest info I found about circumstances of the death of the Joeri Lema, the belgian biker killed in Ecuador:

Apparently he had taken an old, rarely used route from Quito to the coast. The local police officer leading the investigation confirms he had taken no unnecessary risks. The road he had taken was considered to be safe. Acoording to the officer there were normally no heavy robberies, so it was seen as a surprise this happened.

Just some other info in the same article putting things in perspective: by the end of the holiday season more tourists will get killed on the European highways than by criminal causes in the rest of the world...

Still take care out there...

Jef