Opposition protesters burn motorcyclist alive at barricade

CARACAS: One man was killed and another left with severe burns after opposition protesters attacked a truck driver with molotov cocktails in the state Zulia, Venezuela on Wednesday.

The national director of Civil Protection, Jorge Galindo, reported Thursday that one person was killed and two bystanders were seriously injured as a result of a protest in Maracaibo.

According to a victim of the attack, the trucker attempted to avoid being attacked at the barricade and collided into a motorcycle behind the vehicle, trapping the motorcyclist under the truck before protesters threw the petrol bombs.

“We came across the barricade ... and those who had blocked the way began throwing stones at us to loot the truck and when we went in reverse, we hit the motorcycle,” said Jose Bravo, who was in the passenger seat of the truck.

“( The motorcyclist) lay injured on the road and then they threw Molotov bombs at us and set the truck on fi re. The boy burned to death and my colleague and I were rescued,” Bravo continued.

Bravo, 33, suffered third- degree burns to 95 per cent of his body, was sent to the Coromoto Hospital’s Burn Unit to receive treatment.

The motorcyclist was identified as 20-year- old Luigin Paz.

The roadblocks closing down a main road near the city’s bridge were organized by antigovernment groups answering a nationwide protest call by opposition leaders from the MUD coalition. — Bernama