Five killed in foiled robbery
Wednesday December 02 2009
POLICE have shot dead five men who were planning to rob a tourist lodge in Tanzania where billionaire Roman Abramovich recently stayed, officers said yesterday.
It was the latest in a series of incidents pointing to a rise in violent crime along the Tanzania-Kenya border, a region known for its game parks which draw tens of thousands of British tourists each year.
Police laid an ambush for armed robbers close to the resort on the Grumeti Reserve, west of the Serengeti National Park, after a tip-off, said Deus Kato, the regional police commander.
The men's intended targets were €716-a-night lodges and tented camps popular with wealthy visitors and celebrities. Mr Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea Football Club, stayed there after climbing Kilimanjaro in September.
Mr Kato described the incident as "very rare". It follows at least one recent confirmed armed robbery on British tourists staying in a tented camp in the Masai Mara Game Reserve in neighbouring Kenya.
None of the tourists were seriously injured in the attack, when armed men ransacked four tents and robbed four British tourists and an Australian family, including two teenage boys.
But at least €7,200 in cash, valuables and camera equipment was stolen. Last night police insisted that security was being beefed up to deal with the series of raids.
People travelling to Kenya are advised to stay in tourist camps with "good perimeter security". (© Daily Telegraph, London)
- Mike Pflanz in Nairobi
Irish Independent
