Hitchhiker shoots dead mayor in Honduras

A hitchhiker shot dead the mayor of a small town in western Honduras on Wednesday shortly after getting a lift from him, police said, adding that the motive was unknown.

Santiago Mejia, mayor of Dolores, 300 kilometers (200 miles) west of the capital Tegucigalpa, died after the unidentified assailant shot him in the head and his car careered into a ravine, police spokesman Leonel Sauceda told AFP.

His wife was hurt but not critically, Sauceda said.

The couple were on their way to another western town at the time. For unknown reasons, when the hitchhiker got out of their car he insulted the mayor, then fired through the driver's window.

Honduras has one of the highest homicide rates in the world. Last week it suffered five multiple murders that left 30 people dead.