Three French university students and a Peruvian mining engineer were killed by members of an Indian tribe they were filming on a river expedition in Peru's Amazon jungle, police said Friday.
Police in Chiclayo said a report from Bagua, a river town 435 miles north of Lima, said the four were shot to death and their bodies dumped into the Maranon River. The report said the bodies were seen in the river Oct. 10 near Santa Maria de Nieva, 600 miles north of Lima, but they were not retrieved.The victims were on a filming expedition of Aguaruna Indians.
Wilder Sanchez, brother of Ramiro Sanchez, the slain mining engineer, said the Indians apparently attacked when the group tried to film members of the tribe.
The Lima newspaper El Comercio said reports broadcast by a radio station in Jaen, a town 445 miles north of Lima, said one of the students was shot when some Indians tried to steal the group's film equipment. It said the three other victims tried to escape in a boat but were pursued and slain by the Aguarunas.