Medellin authorities to meet embassies and dating apps after five foreigners die

Source: The Guardian

Medellín authorities to meet embassies and dating apps after five foreigners die

Cluster of cases in seven days follows spate of druggings and robberies of tourists, some of which have ended in death

Luke Taylor in Bogotá
Tue 13 Feb 2024 17.12 GMT
First published on Tue 13 Feb 2024 15.39 GMT

Authorities in Medellín will meet representatives of embassies and popular dating apps this week after five foreigners were found dead in Colombia’s second city in the past seven days.

Police say none of the deaths were violent, though one of the cases appears to involve a man who was found dead in his hotel room hours after entering accompanied by two women.

“There have been some deaths from natural causes … from heart problems, others from suicide and others from overdoses,” Medellín’s mayor, Federico Gutiérrez, told reporters on Monday afternoon. “And in other cases, we see tourists going on dating apps getting tricked – and then ending up being robbed and murdered. This issue is very delicate and I have already spoken to the US ambassador.”

Over the past 30 years, Medellín has transformed from one of the world’s most murderous cities to a global destination for tourists and remote workers. In 2022, more than 1.4 million people visited the city, popular for its fair weather and warm hospitality, up from 200,000 in 2015.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/13/medellin-colombia-foreigner-death-dating-apps-embassies