Mum on family holiday in Brazil shot after mistakenly driving into favela
A woman is in hospital after her family was shot at when they mistakenly entered a Brazilian slum.
Eloise Dixon, 46, was with her three young children and husband when she was shot twice in the abdomen after taking a wrong turn near the coastal resort of Angra dos Reis, according to local news reports.
Police said the British family were travelling about 150km west of Rio de Janeiro on the Costa Verde when the shooting happened.
The oldest of the three children was four years old, Rio newspaper O Dia reported. The rest of the family was unhurt in the attack.
Police said the assailants opened fire after approaching the car and telling the family to get out. It is believed the family was looking for somewhere to buy water.
“This whole confusion seems to have happened partly because of the language barrier,” local police chief Bruno Gilaberte told O Globo.
“They ended up driving towards the Água Santa community where they were challenged by criminals.
“Because they didn’t understand the order they received to leave the area, they just carried on and were shot at.”
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According to local reports, the favela area they entered is controlled by the Terceiro Comando Puro gang, a notorious drug faction in Brazil.
A UK Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are in touch with the local authorities in Angra dos Reis, Brazil, following reports of the shooting of a British national.”
Mrs Dixon, who is from Darford but lives in Bromley, is being treated at a hospital but police did not release her condition.
