(CNN) An expert who worked to protect uncontacted Amazonian tribes has been shot and killed with an arrow in Brazil, according to the government's Indigenous affairs agency, Fundação Nacional do Índio (Funai). Rieli Franciscato was killed on Wednesday while responding to a report of a sighting of an isolated group in Seringueiras, in the northern Brazilian state of Rondônia. The 56-year-old, coordinator of a team helping to protect uncontacted tribes' territories in Rondônia, was struck in the chest by the arrow at the border of the Uru Eu Wau Wau tribe's territory. Marcelo Xavier, president of Funai, said in a video: "It's with heavy sadness that Funai and its servants bid farewell to Rieli Franciscato, with a lot respect and admiration. Survival's Senior Researcher Sarah Shenker said: "Rieli's death is a tragic and immeasurable loss for uncontacted tribes, for the forest, and for the fight to stop Brazil's genocide.

Source: CNN September 11, 2020 16:30 UTC