An American tourist was beaten to death by a group of 10 men while visiting a Greek island in the Mediterranean, state media reported..
Bakari Henderson, 22, was at a bar in the Greek island of Zakynthos with his friends Friday when a man approached him and they began fighting, according to state news agency ANA-MPA.
The fight escalated into a brawl on the streets after the bar’s security asked the men to leave, ANA-MPA reported.
Two people, a 32-year-old Serbian and a 34-year-old Greek national, have been arrested. Police are searching for others who may be involved.
Zakynthos, an island in the west coast of mainland Greece, is popular among tourists for its cliffside beaches and sea caves.
“Greek police in Zakynthos notified the US Embassy of the death of a US citizen in the early morning hours of Friday,” the US State Department said in a statement.
Henderson recently graduated from the University of Arizona with a bachelor’s degree in business finance and entrepreneurship, according to his Linkedin profile.He was in Greece working on a photo shoot to launch a new clothing line when the incident took place, his family told CNN affiliate KXAN.
“Bakari loved spending time with family and friends, traveling, and meeting new people. He was a big thinker and enjoyed coming up with new business ventures. Bakari was an inspiration to all he met. He loved life and lived it to the fullest,” the Henderson family said in statement to the affiliate.
University of Arizona President Robert C. Robbins expressed his condolences in a statement.
“All of us at the University of Arizona are shocked and saddened by the loss of our recent graduate, Bakari Henderson. Our hearts and prayers are with his friends and family,” Robbins said. “I can only imagine the deep sense of loss they must be feeling at his untimely death. It is always a tragedy when a young life ends before it has really yet to begin.”
