A photographer claims he was attacked by men wielding machetes while travelling around Mozambique taking photographs for a new book.
Kypros Kyprianou – who is travelling alone and living in his Land Rover – said men tried to kill him as he rested in the vehicle on Sunday night.
‘Bandits attacked me and hit me with their machetes. I have cuts all over me,’ said Kyprianou who grew up in England. ‘It was attempted murder,’ he claimed.
Kyprianou today told the UK’s Amateur Photographer magazine that he suffered ‘five cuts’ during the incident, which occurred after he had parked his Land Rover on a ‘dirt track’.
Details are unclear, but the attack appears to have taken place in, or near, a village referred to as ‘Mueda’.
Speaking from the offices of a local Mozambique radio station, Kyprianou told the magazine that one of the attackers had first approached him asking for a cigarette light.
He said this afternoon that police have now arrested a suspect over the incident.
Kyprianou – who lives in Greece but carries a British passport – said he hopes to sell some of his latest pictures as limited edition prints.
Last year he visited the London offices of Amateur Photographer to show staff his photographs before embarking on a project to photograph ‘remote areas of Africa’.
In 2008 he won plaudits in the magazine’s annual photography competition (pictured).
Foreign Office advice states that robbery, using knives and firearms, is on the increase in Mozambique towns. While, vehicle theft, occasionally at gunpoint, can occur anywhere.
At the time of writing, the British High Commission in Maputo could not be reached for comment.
Kyprianou, who describes himself as a retired businessman, said that he next plans to travel to Tanzania before heading back to Europe.
It is understood that one of the culprits suffered a broken arm during the alleged attack.
? For more on this story contact Chris Cheesman at Amateur Photographer magazine on 020 3148 4129 or email chris_cheesman@ipcmedia.com
