An American man has been killed by the indigenous inhabitants of a remote island after being warned not to go there.
The 27-year-old died on North Sentinel island, part of the India-controlled Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal.
The island is protected and is not open to tourists.
Its inhabitants are one of the few remaining tribes that are completely cut off from the rest of the world - and are known to fire at outsiders with bows and arrows.
Indian police officials confirmed the death and said seven fishermen who allegedly aided the visit had been arrested.
The man killed has been identified as John Allen Chau.
Just five months ago the Indian authorities lifted one key restriction on foreign tourists going to the #Sentinelese tribe's island – the news of an American missionary's death on the island is the tragic consequence. Protect #uncontacted tribes' lands now! pic.twitter.com/R2j9ANezsk
— Survival International (@Survival) November 21, 2018
The Sentinelese are said to be at risk of death if they have contact with outsiders as they have no immunity to common diseases like flu and measles.
Estimates as to the number of tribespeople who survive vary from 200 to as low as 40.
A police official - speaking anonymously to Reuters - said Mr Chau had hired a fishing dinghy to get close to the island, before changing to a canoe.
Indian media reports said he was on an "adventure trip" and that his body had been found by the fishermen.
But local police officer Vijay Singh told the AP news agency that police were still in the process of recovering the body.
The US consulate in Chennai, on the Indian mainland, said it was aware of the reports of the American's death but a spokeswoman declined to comment further for reasons of privacy.
If the Indian authorities had properly enforced the protection of the #Sentinelese & their island, this would never have happened. Our statement on the killing of an American missionary making contact with the Sentinelese tribe in the Andaman Islands. https://t.co/lcETVc5z2N
— Survival International (@Survival) November 21, 2018
Stephen Corry, director of Survival International which campaigns on behalf of indigenous peoples accused Indian authorities of softening restrictions that protected the islanders in recent months.
"This tragedy should never have been allowed to happen," he said.
"The Indian authorities should have been enforcing the protection of the Sentinelese and their island for the safety of both the tribe and outsiders.
“It is not impossible that the Sentinelese have just been infected by deadly pathogens to which they have no immunity, with the potential to wipe out the entire tribe.
"The Sentinelese have shown again and again that they want to be left alone, and their wishes should be respected.
"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 survive.
"The Sentinelese fear of outsiders is very understandable."
