Angola police ‘accidentally’ kill man in social gathering dispute

LUANDA: An Angolan citizen has been shot dead by police enforcing social distancing measures against the coronavirus in the capital Luanda, the government and a witness said.

Antonio Domingos Vulola, 21, was gunned down on Saturday after police clashed with a group of people caught flouting a nationwide curfew and a ban on social gatherings in Luanda's impoverished Huambo neighbourhood.

"The citizens showed resistance and set out to attack the forces of law, throwing sticks stones and bottles," an interior ministry statement said late Monday.

"In defence of their own physical integrity, law enforcement officers fired shots that accidentally hit the citizens in question."

The victim's brother told AFP that Vulola was shot in the head while fleeing the scuffle.

"The police arrived and started hitting (even) those with masks," Joao Antonio Vulola recalled.

"My brother had no mask... so he decided to flee and it was from there that the agent shot three bullets: one in the air and two at my brother´s head, who died on the spot." The interior ministry has opened an investigation into the incident. To date Angola has recorded just 43 cases of coronavirus, including two deaths.