MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bolivian traveler dies in Argentine roadblock

Doctors at the Abra Pampa hospital were unable to revive Flórez Gómez

A 66-year-old Bolivian tourist died Sunday in the Argentine province of Jujuy when the bus she was riding was held by a roadblock and she could not receive proper and timely medical attention after fainting, it was reported Monday.

The incident occurred almost a month after the first roadblocks by groups opposing Governor Gerardo Morales' constitutional reform. The victim suffered a cardiac arrest before entering the town of Abra Pampa.

Virginia Flórez Gómez began to feel unwell and fainted. After notifying the emergency services, an ambulance arrived and immediately transferred her to a local hospital. But upon arriving she decompensated again and physicians were unable to revive her. According to the medical report, she died of cardiorespiratory arrest.

The traveler had left Buenos Aires Thursday and was on her way to Bolivia. First, the bus stopped at a roadblock in Purmamarca, where it remained for about 10 hours, and then had to stop again at the roadblock on National Route 9, where demonstrators insisted that the blockade would last indefinitely and that they would decide whether to let it through.

Authorities have not ruled out performing a post-mortem on Flórez Gómez's body, which is being kept at the Abra Pampa hospital.