You can sign up to receive it directly here. So the Sentinelese fear of outsiders is very understandable,' Stephen Corry, the group's director, said in a statement.Įach evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. 'The British colonial occupation of the Andaman Islands decimated the tribes living there, wiping out thousands of tribespeople, and only a fraction of the original population now survives. Survival International, which works for the rights of tribal people, said the killing of the American should prompt Indian authorities to properly protect the lands of the Sentinelese and other Andaman tribes. Their population is believed to be declining. Their bodies were never recovered.Įstimates say the Sentinelese number between just 40 and 150. In 2006, the Sentinelese killed two fishermen when their boat broke loose and strayed onto the island, which is about the size of Manhattan. The isolate tribe, believed to be one of the last pre-Neolihic tribes in the world, attracted global attention in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami when one of them was photographed firing arrows at an Indian Coast Guard helicopter. Image: picture-alliance/AP/nthropological Survey of India The Sentinelese are known to resist outsiders. Hosie declined to comment any further, citing privacy concerns. 'When a US citizen is missing, we work closely with local authorities as they carry out their search efforts,' she added. 'We are aware of reports concerning a US citizen in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands,' said Kathleen Hosie, a consulate spokeswoman. It's not known yet if he planned to preach on the North Sentinel Island, which the Sentinelese have inhabited for thousands of years.Īuthorities launched an investigation after police were contacted by the US consulate in the southern city of Chennai, which has been in touch with Chau's mother. Local media say Chau was a missionary, who had visited the archipelago in the past. The Sentinelese, among the world's last tribes untouched by modern civilization, are known to resist all contact with outsiders, often attacking anyone who comes near. 'A murder case has been registered,' a police officer told Reuters news agency. Efforts are under way to recover the man's body. Police have arrested seven fishermen for facilitating the 27-year-old American's visit to the island. The man, identified as John Allen Chau, had illegally ventured onto the North Sentinel Island, which is out of bounds for visitors and is home to the Sentinelese tribe. Chau had no permit, police said.A US citizen is believed to have been killed by an isolated arrow-wielding tribe in one of the islands of India's remote archipelago of Andaman and Nicobar. While special permits are required, scholars say visits are now theoretically allowed in some parts of the Andamans where they used to be entirely forbidden, including North Sentinel. Going within three miles of the island is illegal.

India recently changed some of its rules on visiting isolated regions in the Andamans. India has banned its citizens from visiting North Sentinel Island or attempting to make contact with the people who live there. Tribespeople killed two Indian fishermen in 2006 when their boat broke loose and drifted onto the shore, but Indian media reports said officials did not investigate or prosecute anyone over the deaths. India has a very hands-off approach to the island’s people. Police surveyed the island by air on Tuesday, and a team of police and forest department officials used a coastguard boat to travel there on Wednesday.

With help from a friend, Chau hired fishermen for US$325 to take him there on a boat, Pathak said.Īfter the fishermen realised Chau had been killed, they left for Port Blair, the capital of the island chain, where they broke the news to Chau’s friend, who in turn notified his family, Pathak said. It was not his first time in the region: he had visited the Andaman Islands in 20. Commandant Pravin Gaur of the Coast Guard never thought he would be outmanoeuvred by the primitive Sentinelese tribesmen but he was. Authorities say Chau arrived in the area on October 16 and stayed on another island while he prepared to travel to North Sentinel.

North sentinel island helicopter