A British tourist was allegedly hacked to death by a man in Thailand who attacked him and another British tourist with a sickle as "they were playing loud music" while the sat and drank beer. The incident happened on Saturday morning Kanchanaburi, central Thailand, according to local media reports. The alleged attacked is reportedly mentally unstable.
The victim was found shirtless in a pair of black shorts and was pronounced dead at scene, while his friend was allegedly taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition and is fighting for his life. Police have arrested the attacker and an investigation into the incident has been launched.
Fatal Attack
According to local media reports, police received a call and arrived at the scene around 3:50 am on Saturday. On reaching they found a shirtless man lying with his face down in a pool of blood. He had knife wounds to his neck. His friend too was found lying nearby in a similar condition but was still breathing.
Both the men are Brits. The friend was rushed to the hospital in a critical condition, police said, while the other man was pronounced dead at the scene. Police also said that they found a pair of shoes and a sickle - which they suspected was the murder weapon - at the scene. Also, according to local media reports, the attacked used a sickle to kill the tourist.
Police said they had arrested a 23-year-old local man with a history of mental health issues in connection with attack. Neither the victims nor the attacker's name has been revealed but police said the suspect too had sustained injuries where appear to be from a knife fight.
The suspect allegedly attacked the pair after becoming enraged that they were playing loud music from a radio into the early hours of Saturday morning after they started drinking around 9 pm.
Killed Mercilessly
A Foreign Office spokesperson who spoke to MailOnline, said: "We are in contact with the Royal Thai Police following the death of one British man and the hospitalization of another in Thailand and are ready to provide consular support." However, it is not known if there was a verbal altercation before the man attacked the two tourists with a sickle.
However, it is understood that the two men had been drinking for hours as there was a stash of empty beer bottles lying at the scene, according to local media. The alleged attack took place outside a rented room at the Soi Sri Lanka in Mueang, Kanchanaburi.
A neighbor, who was a relative of the dead victim's girlfriend, told police he was woken by a loud noise early on Saturday only to find that one of the two tourists was dead, while the other severely wounded, the Bangkok Post reported.
Pictures showed the scene swarming with police officers with streams of thick red blood, and spattered walls. Police has taken the attacker in custody. However, it was later reported by local media that the man was injured after he was attacked by neighbors as they believed he was the perpetrator.
