Updated on 06/13/2022 10:01
- Journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous specialist Bruno Pereira have been missing for a week.
- The two disappeared after a trip to the Amazon.
- In the search for them, the police would have found the duo’s personal belongings.
A week after the disappearance of a British journalist and an indigenous expert deep in the Brazilian Amazon, according to media reports, their personal belongings were found.
Firefighters discovered, among other things, the health card of Brazilian specialist Bruno Pereira in the water in a flooded area in the Itaquaí River, the portal “G1” reported on Sunday (local time), citing the police.
A backpack belonging to journalist Dom Phillips and the clothes and shoes of the two men were also found. In the vicinity of the site, close to the border with Colombia and Peru, a boat belonging to a suspect who had already been arrested was discovered.
The items, including a laptop, were tied to a tree, Brazilian media reported, citing a fire department spokesman. During the course of the investigation, the dive will continue in the area.
Friends and acquaintances of Philips and Pereira express concern
According to a regional indigenous organization, Phillips and Pereira did not arrive by boat on June 5 as planned in the town of Atalaia do Norte, in the far west of Brazil. Pereira had previously reported to the police that he had been threatened several times.
Indigenous people, family members, friends and colleagues expressed concern that the search for the two disappeared was slow and not carried out with sufficient determination. The UN human rights office urged Brazilian authorities to step up efforts.
Phillips has lived in Brazil for 15 years and worked for the British newspaper “The Guardian”. He had already traveled with Pereira, who also worked for the region’s indigenous authority, in the hard-to-reach Vale do Javari, where they were now sought after. More recently, the 57-year-old researched a book about protecting the Amazon region. (dp/tp)