A 29-year-old Bulgarian tourist was “savagely punched, kicked and beaten with a paving stone” by a group of five young men in Faro on Tuesday night (May 12) after apparently refusing to let them steal his camera.
As police round up the attackers, it would appear this was not their first victim.
According to news reports, they are also thought to have been responsible for at least one other attack, on a tourist from Finland.
But last week’s attack was the most violent, with the tourist brutally beaten over the head and left confused and dizzy.
The injured man was transported to Faro Hospital.
Four of his attackers, aged between 15 and 16, have already been arrested and another, aged 20, is still being sought.
The attack happened when the Bulgarian stepped off a train at Faro’s Bom João station.
He was approached by the youths, who are understood to have tried to steal the camera he had hanging from his neck.
The man resisted and ended up being beaten over the head with a ‘calçada’ paving stone that one of the boys was holding, while the youngster’s accomplices laid in punches and kicks.
Despite the ordeal, the tourist was able to call for help as the gang made off with his credit cards.
