Argentine tourist Benjamín Gamond, 23, died today in a hospital in Mexico after being attacked from behind with a machete in a Oaxaca beach.

“The Gamond family reports, with immense sadness, that Benja didn’t make it. The miracle didn’t happen,” Facundo Gamond, a relative of Benjamín, posted on Instagram. “The efforts, as his strength and heart, were enormous. But they weren’t enough.”

“We are infinitely grateful for all the help, assistance and love we have received. We ask you to understand this moment and respect the pain of the family.”

The attack occurred last Friday afternoon in the tourist area known as Lagunas de Chacahua, in the municipality of Villa Tutupepec.

Gamond was transferred yesterday to Mexico City’s General Hospital with a serious head injury. The Foreign Ministry told Télam that the transfer was organized by the Mexican Health Secretariat in an “ambulance plane of the Mexican Navy”.

For reasons that are still being investigated, a young man attacked three tourists from Córdoba – Benjamín Gamond, Santiago Lastra, 22, and Macarena González, 23— with a machete. Lastra and González suffered cut wounds on their hands and arms as well as fractures. They are being treated for their injuries and are recovering well.

According to what family members told Télam, Gamond was traveling to Mexico for the second time and had settled in Tulum to work in gastronomy during the tourist season.

The Municipal Police arrested the suspected attacker, who was identified as Cruz Irving Martinez Flores (21), a native of Ometepec, Guerrero.

Benjamín’s brother, Facundo, visited him in Mexico and wrote on his Instagram account: “Thank you for waiting for me. Fly high, torito! We shall meet again. We love you!”

—Télam