An American tourist was stabbed to death after a man tried to grab his friend’s hat during a late-night altercation on the street in Portugal, police said.
The incident happened at around 3.20am Wednesday when one of the victims was walking back to his hotel in the coastal town of Cascais, around 20 miles from the capital Lisbon.
The 34-year-old was approached by three men who tried to touch his hat unprovoked, Portugal’s Public Security Police said in a statement.
When he told them to stop, he was punched in the face three times. The victim then called his friend, who was at a nearby nightclub TAJ, for help. When his 35-year-old friend arrived at the scene, the two groups got into a “verbal altercation” that turned violent.
One of the suspects, using a sharp weapon, struck both men several times in the face, arms and back, police said. The suspects escaped in a vehicle parked nearby.
When police arrived at the scene in Rua Afonso Sanches, they found both men covered in blood. The 35-year-old was “lying on the ground in a supine position, inanimate and with no obvious signs of life”, having been stabbed in the back, police said in the statement.
The second victim was sitting on the pavement with “minor injuries to his face and right elbow”.
Emergency services, including paramedics and firefighters from Cascais and the neighbouring town of Estoril, were called out.
The older man was declared dead at the scene, while the other victim was taken to Santa Maria Hospital in Lisbon for treatment.
The US State Department told CNN it was aware of reports of an attack on two US tourists in Cascais, but they have yet to be named. The Independent has contacted the State Department for comment.
The Criminal Police Body and Judicial Police are continuing to investigate. Three suspects have since been arrested and are being questioned by the police, according to CNN, who said one of the men faces a homicide charge while the other two are accused of participating in the assault.
