Paulo di Santo, the 35-year-old Albufeira barman “fighting for his life” with devastating head injuries since being attacked last Sunday has died.
His death was officially declared in Faro hospital yesterday.
It was the outcome that family and friends “were hoping for”, writes tabloid Correio da Manhã given that di Santo was termed brain dead on admission, and doctors had only given him a 1% chance of survival.
The father of a four-year-old son was brutally beaten by a gang of youths after leaving work in the Santa Eulalia district (click here).
Aside from the head injuries, he sustained two broken vertebra.
Says CM, PJ police have already taken statements from witnesses of the attack – which also left another youth with injuries.
The attackers have been “identified by the authorities who are still collecting evidence of the crime”, the paper adds, claiming they are all in their 20s
As messages of deep sadness and shock are shared over social media, it is clear from the commentaries that locals have come to fear the consequences of a night out ‘on the town’ in Albufeira.
Di Santo’s death joins a dismal litany of fatal incidents in what is loosely termed ‘the drinking district’, and, as one of his friends explains over Facebook: “Albufeira is in mourning. Paulo fought right up until the last moment, and it is now up to us to fight for justice. It has got to the point that people are frightened in Albufeira. If only it could go back to being our beloved town”.
Image: posted over social media by Portugal Social
