Police confirm death of German tourist attacked by criminals in Recife

The delegate Polyanne Farias, from the Integrated Specialized Board of the Civil Police of Pernambuco (Diresp), confirmed, this Wednesday (14), the death of the 81-year-old German tourist, Werner Duysen Gurkasch, victim of robbery last week, in downtown from Recife.

Last Thursday (8), the two German tourists, who were passing through the capital of Pernambuco, were approached by criminals. The victims, aged 79 and 81, were on a cruise ship that docked in Porto do Recife.

The couple got off the ship to get to know the city, when they were approached by robbers near the Basilica of Nossa Senhora do Carmo, in the center of the city, where they were taking pictures of the place.

According to the delegate, workers in the region told the police that the tourists were assaulted and attacked by bandits who were armed with knives. They announced the robbery in Portuguese and the victims would not have understood and were injured.

The tourist who died fell and hit his head on the curb. The criminals then fled and took cell phones and glasses from the victims. One of them was already captured on Tuesday (13), carrying out another robbery. The Germans’ glasses were recovered. Police are still looking for three other men suspected of involvement in the crime.

Also according to the Civil Police, Werner’s body will be subjected to expertise at the Institute of Legal Medicine (IML) in Recife and the report will have the definitive conclusion on death.

“Investigations so far show that he [Werner] died as a result of the fall and not from the use of a melee weapon. We have the images of the fact, but we prefer not to disclose it now because the investigations continue”, informed the delegate responsible for the investigation.