Bodies of slain tourists repatriated to UK — Police
David Jim Barlow and Emmaretia Cecilia Geyer. PHOTO/COMBO
What you need to know:
- The deceased were identified as David Jim Barlow, 50, a British citizen, and Emmaretia Celia Geyer, 51, a South African citizen. Eric Alyai, a Ugandan, was their driver, and was already buried in Kaberamaido District.
Two bodies of the foreign tourists, who were killed last month in Queen Elizabeth National Park, have been repatriated to the United Kingdom, the police have revealed.
On October 17, suspected Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) terrorists shot and killed two foreign tourists in the park at Nyamunuka on Katwe Road in Kasese District in Western Uganda while on their honeymoon.
The deceased were identified as David Jim Barlow, 50, a British citizen, and Emmaretia Celia Geyer, 51, a South African citizen. Eric Alyai, a Ugandan, was their driver, and was already buried in Kaberamaido District.
The bodies of the British National and South African citizen were kept at Mulago Hospital National Referral Hospital mortuary.
“All this while, we have been working with the forensic and investigative experts from the UK and up to November 1, we managed to hand over the two bodies of the deceased tourists which were repatriated to the UK for further management,” Mr Enanga told journalists yesterday in Kampala.
Mr Enanga explained that all the legal formalities and findings in Uganda, the lines of inquiry, the timelines of events aligned with GPS, phone evidence and other recordings were shared and availed to their counterparts in the UK. A full postmortem report was handed over to the UK team too.
“Our hearts and thoughts continue to be with their families and loved ones. It is a very painful weight for the families and relatives but we had to effectively coordinate and share our findings with the UK team,” Mr Enanga said.
He assured all Ugandans and visitors that after this tragic incident, there are significant improvements in security at all tourist sites in the country.
“Our investigative team in Criminal Investigative Department (CID) is coordinating with the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) to recover some of the exhibits which were found with the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebel commander, who was arrested to help in our investigations,” Mr Enanga said.
He added: “We commend our UPDF marine and CMI who are continuing to pursue the remaining remnants of the ADF group that attacked the foreign tourists, the students at Lubiriha and also the business people who were killed along Kasese Highway.”
Police promised that the truth behind these attacks would come out and even the perpetrators be brought to book.
President Museveni, on Sunday, commended the security agencies for arresting one of the killers of the tourists who was identified as Njovu, the group’s commander.
“Three other terrorists have been killed from that group of 10 people who killed the Lhubiriha children, burnt the truck of onions and tried to attack the parked trucks on the Congo-Kasindi side. The remaining seven are still on the run, but we shall get them,” read President Museveni’s Sunday post on X, as Twitter.
This was not the first time tourists are attacked in Queen Elizabeth National Park. On April 2, 2019, American tourist Kimberly Endicott and her guide Jean-Paul Mirenge were kidnapped by suspected terrorists at the park. Five days later, the government paid ransom for their release.
