Elderly British tourists robbed in Rio at gunpoint

Elderly British tourists robbed in Rio at gunpoint

	Published : Tue, 24 Jan 2006 02:05 By : Amy Watts Print this Story

RIO DE JANERIO, Brazil - A busload of mostly British tourists were robbed at gunpoint in Rio, their tourist company has confirmed. The bus was on the way from the Rio airport to the tourists' hotel when it was halted midway and gunmen entered it.

There were 31 elderly British passengers, one Irish and one Portuguese tourist aboard the bus. The tourists were on a fortnight-long horseracing holiday of South America and had only just arrived in Brazil when the incident took place.

The robbers made away with passports, jewellery and credit cards at gunpoint. "Fortunately nobody was killed, hurt or injured, but obviously there was a lot of trauma..." Horse Racing Abroad, the tourist company said in a statement.

The Haywards Heath, West Sussex-based company also said that the passengers had been offered counseling, but no one had taken up the offer. "You do not expect this sort of thing to occur on the main road from the airport to a five-star hotel. It would be like getting hijacked on the M4 from Heathrow to London," said Ian Fry, managing director of the company.

"The coach was hijacked by four gunmen and taken off the main road. The people were then robbed basically. One of my directors was accompanying the group - she was held up at gunpoint." The group had visited racecourses in Argentina and was headed to their hotel when the robbery took place. It is reported that the incident occurred on Thursday night, but the details were revealed today.

After the incident, the tourists also visited Brazil's Hipodromo de Gavea on Saturday. "They have displayed typical British Dunkirk spirit about the whole thing," Mr. Fry confirmed. "We have put bodyguards with the group but this is mainly for psychological reasons to make them feel more secure - we do not expect lightning to strike twice."

The tour will end on January 26 as originally planned, he confirmed. Meanwhile, a Foreign Office spokesman said that consulate staff in Rio had helped with the new passports and had also arranged to have the credit cards cancelled.