Two friends who mysteriously died on a 36-hour resistance hike in countryside near Santarém may have ingested poisonous plant roots, or been victims of some form of pesticide.
This is the initial theory that today will become more clear as the bodies of Filipe Namoro, 43, and airforceman Ricardo Marques, 35, are autopsied.
Tabloid Correio da Manhã reveals that throughout the men’s hike, they uploaded posts and photos to Facebook – one of the last being news that they were eating “fennel” and “wild carrots”.
Namoro, a resident of Santarém, managed to call 112 to ask for help on Saturday afternoon.
Local news service rederegional claims by this time, Marques was feeling ill and couldn not walk.
But his friend was only able to explain that the pair was near Pernes, next to an EPAL water pipeline.
By the time Pernes bombeiros tried calling him back, Namoro had stopped answering his phone.
Firefighters despatched to the area, found both men dead “around 40 minutes later”, says rederegional.
The area was cordoned off by GNR agents, ahead of the arrival of PJ criminal police and forensic experts.
