Migrants honoured for ‘heroism’ after trying to save gay man beaten to death

Two men from Senegal have been honoured by a northwestern Spanish city as ‘heroes’ for risking their lives to save a gay man. Samuel Luiz, 24, was out with friends in A Coruña, a port city in Galicia, in the early hours of July 3, 2021, when a young man began arguing with him over a video call.

The man accused the nursing assistant of filming him, a misunderstanding that ended with a dozen men beating Samuel all while shouting ‘f****t’. He died in hospital later that morning. Ibrahima Diack and Magatte N’Diaye attempted to save Samuel, only for the victim to fall unconscious in Ibrahima’s arms as the attackers fled.

The two street vendors, or hawkers, were irregular migrants without a work or residency permit, so said they fled out of fear of being arrested. Now A Coruña mayor Inés Rey paid tribute to their ‘altruism’ in a ceremony yesterday where they received a standing ovation and a plaque.

Rey told officials and reporters at the María Pita Municipal Palace: ‘Only a couple of people came to his aid, those who had the most to lose. With thousands of members from all over the world, our vibrant LGBTQ+ WhatsApp channel is a hub for all the latest news and important issues that face the LGBTQ+ community.

Simply click on this link, select ‘Join Chat’ and you’re in! Don't forget to turn on notifications!. ‘They could not save him, but they did act as saviours out of kindness, pure altruism.’. Ibrahima and Magatte were given the title of ‘adopted son’, the highest honour a Spanish city can give that recognises individuals for their ‘outstanding qualities or merits’.

‘That two undocumented migrants were the only ones who physically risked themselves to help the victim of a pack thirsting for horror leaves much food for thought and a series of lessons,’ Rey said. Magatte said: ‘We are not heroes, we did what we had to do, these are the values ​​that our parents taught us in Senegal.’.

Ibrahima Diack y Magatte N’Diaye ya son Hijos Adoptivos de A Coruña. Han recibido el nombramiento en un emotivo acto celebrado en el Concello de A Coruña al que hab asistido amigos, familiares y miembros de la corporación municipal, que les han brindando un caluroso aplauso ante… pic.twitter.com/LmrXgUwrXN.

Ibrahima, who lived in the Gasthof de Riazor area at the time of the attack, said his family in Senegal ‘didn’t have much’. ‘But they gave me many things more valuable than money,’ he said, the local newspaper Noticias de Gipuzkoa reported. ‘They gave me respect, education and above all values.’.

A jury in November found four men guilty of Samuel’s murder. The main suspect, identified as Diego MM, received a 24-year prison sentence. The accused showed ‘an absolute lack of empathy and a cruelty that deserves the greatest criminal condemnation’, a judge said.

Two other men, Alejandro FG and Kaio ASC, were sentenced to 20 years and 20 and a half years respectively. A fourth defendant, Alejandro MR, was jailed for 10 years. The court heard how Samuel was taking a video call outside a promenade nightclub when a passerby called him a ‘f****t’ and accused him of filming them.

After punching Samuel and leaving the scene, he returned with 12 others who beat the man unconscious. He died in hospital that morning. The court heard how Ibrahima and Magatte saw the group kicking Samuel as he lay on the street covered in blood. ‘I grabbed the boy with my arms and Magatte was trying to stop the boys, but they were surrounding us,’ Ibrahima said. ‘We couldn’t escape.’.

The two men stood on either side of Samuel with their arms outstretched in an attempt to block the punches and kicks ‘coming from all sides’. Yet one of the attackers hit Samuel, knocking him unconscious. It’s then that Ibrahmima looked down to see the young man ‘covered in blood’.

‘We were illegal, we didn’t have papers at the time and we were very scared of everything we risked to get here and have a good future,’ Ibrahmina added. ‘This happened to us and we told ourselves that we had to try to escape because if the police caught us, it was over.’.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. For more stories like this, check our news page. Arrow MORE: Boy, 15, ‘beat dog walker, 80, to death with a slider while girl, 13, filmed’. Arrow MORE: My paedophile teacher held me prisoner for five years – this is how I escaped.

Arrow MORE: Thieves stole £2,800,000 gold toilet ‘in five minutes’, court hears. Never miss the biggest stories with breaking news alerts in your inbox. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy.