A Dutch cyclist died in Tajikistan

During a collision in Tajikistan in the southern Danghara region, four foreign cyclists were killed on Sunday, including a 56-year-old Dutchman. This confirms the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sunday night. A 58-year-old Dutch woman was injured and is in the hospital.

The ministry reports that relatives have been informed and can not say anything about the exact circumstances of the accident. Tajik authorities speak of a traffic accident: a car driver reportedly hit the group of seven tourists in total and then fled. According to local media, there could be a targeted attack.

The US embassy in Tajikistan confirms that two Americans have been killed. The nationality of other cyclists is not known.

The incident took place around 3:30 pm local time, about 150 kilometers south of the Tajik capital Dushanbe. In a statement, the ministry reports that three cyclists died on the spot and another died at the hospital. The other three tourists were slightly injured.

The driver of the car fled after the incident, according to the ministry, it is a 21-year-old Tajik, on whose car traces of the accident have been found. Two suspects were killed during an arrest, a third was arrested. It is not clear if the motorist was killed

Possible an attack

It was a fatal collision, but a deliberate attack is not excluded. "We are assuming a traffic accident, and other options are also being considered," the ministry said, adding that the Tajik medium Akhbor wrote that the perpetrators may have gotten out of the car and then attacked the group with knives. This has not been confirmed by the authorities.

A spokesman for the Tajik Ministry of the Interior does not mean anything about the incident NRC Sunday night

] In Tajikistan – a small former Soviet Republic Central Asia – tourism is a major source of revenue.The predominantly Muslim country with 8.5 million inhabitants is controlled by President Emomalii Rachmon since 1992.