British Tourist Shot in Brazilian Shanty Town

Eloise Dixon was looking for bottled water with her family in 'favela' known for crime
By Josh Rosenblatt,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 7, 2017 12:14 PM CDT
British Tourist Shot in Brazilian Shanty Town
Eloise Dixon   (Facebook)

A British woman traveling in Brazil took a terrible wrong turn Sunday and ended up getting shot in front of her family. Eloise Dixon, who's reportedly from Kent, was on holiday with her husband and three children in the popular tourist beach town of Angra dos Reis, about 90 miles from Rio de Janeiro, when the family misunderstood directions they received while searching for bottled water and ended up in one of the area's favelas, or slums, the Guardian reports. Authorities say a group of people approached the car and yelled at them to either leave the area or get out of the car, but the family didn't understand the orders and someone opened fire.

Police say Dixon was hit in the abdomen and taken to a nearby hospital, where the medical director reported that the "bullet traveled through her abdomen but luckily didn’t hit any major arteries or vital organs,” the Independent reports. She's said to be in stable condition. The rest of the family was unhurt. The Agua Santa neighborhood is said to be home to a drug-trafficking gang known as Terceiro Comando Puro, or Pure Third Command. (More Brazil stories.)

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