(TAN): A British woman was rushed to hospital in Portugal after being stabbed in a street robbery. The 27-year-old woman, said to be on a pilgrimage, was knifed in the arm by a masked mugger in Vialonga, north of Lisbon, reports said.
Local reports said the attacker fled empty-handed after watching her bleed profusely. Emergency workers said the woman was walking the popular Portuguese Way of St James, which passes through Lisbon, Coimbra and Porto on its way to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in north-west Spain. The victim was taken to Vila Franca de Xira Hospital for treatment.
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Mario Cardoso, one of the fire chiefs based at Vialonga Fire Station, said: “The mugger actually helped his victim when he saw he had cut her and she was bleeding and then fled while she went to seek assistance in a local office.” No arrests are known to have taken place so far.
Although the pilgrim routes to Santiago de Compostela are generally regarded as safe, there have been some incidents of female walkers being targeted. Two men were jailed in July last year in Portugal following a string of attacks on women including the attempted rape of a 71-year-old British pilgrim.
