Popular holiday destination in Colombia gains bloody reputation as one tourist dying every week
This year a popular holiday hotspot has on average one tourist a week dying.
Despite found to be the best holiday destination last year for the summer months due to its climate, Medellin, Colombia, has developed a bad reputation. Last week, 25-year-old American Matthew Watson Croulet was found dead in his room after hopping on a taxi disoriented and with only the name of his hotel clear in his mind.
He was the 29th tourist to have died in violent or mysterious circumstances since the start of the year. It is an average of more than one dead a week.
Authorities fear that the total death toll could hit 61 by December if the trend continues. Another American, Jaime Eduardo Cisneros, was found dead in his hotel room in the tourist district of Laureles on May 31.
Authorities said Mr Cisneros had entered the room accompanied by a woman in the early morning before his body was discovered rolled up in a sheet with no signs of violence on his body. The woman was confirmed to have left the premises alone.
The Colombian town enjoys balmy 27.6C average temperatures over the summer months. The hotspot has a low cost of daily life – an average of £43 per day. It is also the birthplace of drug lord Pablo Escobar - and the Colombian town was once known as one of the most dangerous places in the world.