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Two Czech Tourists Shot Dead in Northern Albania


FILE - Albanian police forces, who are offering a $33,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the shooting deaths of two Czech tourists, seen securing unrelated crime scene about 200 kilometers (125 miles) south of Tirana, June 24, 2015.
FILE - Albanian police forces, who are offering a $33,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the shooting deaths of two Czech tourists, seen securing unrelated crime scene about 200 kilometers (125 miles) south of Tirana, June 24, 2015.

Two Czech tourists were shot and killed on a mountain road in northern Albania, police said Saturday.

Michael Svatos, 27, and Anna Kosinova, 36, were found dead in their car near Prekal village, in the picturesque Dukagjin region, about 150 kilometers north of capital, Tirana.

Investigators found the couple in the car and a rifle near them. A dozen bullets were found outside the vehicle.

The preliminary police report suggests that one of the attackers might have been traveling with the victims, said Ardian Çipa, deputy director of the Albanian state police.

Reward offered

Police detained about 30 people for questioning about the incident and called on local residents to cooperate in the investigation.

A $33,000 reward has been offered for information leading to an arrest.

According to police and eyewitnesses, the killers rolled the car down a ravine to create the perception of an accident.

The two were on their way to join a group of Czech tourists in the town of Theth in the same region.

The mountain wilderness of Theth, a peak as high as 2,400 meters above the sea level, attracts tourists from both Western and Central Europe, especially Czechs, who maintain a camp ground there.

Three Czech tourists who disappeared in the Dukagjin region in 2001 are still missing.

Some material for this report comes from AFP and Reuters.

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