Spanish photographer shot dead in Ethiopia

Spanish photographer shot dead while filming TV documentary in Ethiopia

The Catalan man was accompanying two popular Chilean presenters when two men opened fire on the television crew

Catalan photographer and tourist guide Toni Espadas has been shot dead in Ethiopia while filming a documentary.

Two individuals opened fire on the team of Partners of the World (Socios por el Mundo), a well-known Chilean television programme. The crew, including the Spanish photographer, were there to do a report on a tribe in Ethiopia. "As Canal 13, we deeply regret the death of Toni, and from a distance, we send his family all our support," the television station said. The other members of the filming crew were unharmed.

They were filming the Mursi tribe, who were not the perpetrators of the attack. "The drivers and all the members of the team of the programme, produced by the MkZeta production company, are in good health," a statement pointed out. The Chilean foreign ministry is taking the necessary steps to repatriate them so they can leave the African country "as soon as possible".

Toni Espadas, born in Barcelona in 1969, specialised in travel and photography. According to his website, he opened his first travel agency in Ethiopia in 2010, which he later expanded to countries such as Uganda, Tanzania, Gabon, Eritrea, Benin, Angola and South Sudan. "For some years now, I have been advising journalists and production companies, working as a fixer for the production of reports, documentaries and television programmes focusing on the study of African peoples and cultures," Espadas wrote in his biography.

Espadas was part of the team led by renowned Chilean journalist Francisco 'Pancho' Saavedra and actor Jorge Zabaleta. The Chilean programme aims to "discover new and distant cultures, reveal exotic and beautiful landscapes, and live great adventures", according to the TV channel's website.