A German tourist has been hit off the coast of the Maldives by a ricochet of a military exercise. The 41-year-old had been injured in a hospital brought by field doctors, but the gunshot wound is not life-threatening, it says in a statement from the Ministry of Defense of the island state. The man had been traveling by boat.
The Foreign Office in Berlin confirmed on Thursday the incident of Wednesday afternoon. "Our honorary consul in the Maldives and our embassy in Colombo are in contact with the person concerned," it said. Further details did not publish the office.
The Maldivian Ministry of Defense apologized for the "very unfortunate incident". According to the announcement, the event took place off the island of Girifushi. There, soldiers under strict security precautions had held firing exercises.
According to initial investigations, the boat had been beyond the danger zone and was not directly in the firing line of the maneuver. However, obviously a ball was extremely deviated as a ricochet. The authorities had opened an investigation into the incident. The Ministry will tighten the security regulations again.
