A pair of travellers have revealed they were ambushed by attackers wearing V for Vendetta style masks on the same Thai island where two backpackers were killed.
Thailand's Koh Tao island has been dubbed 'Death Island' after a spate of killings including the death of Brit tourists David Miller and Hannah Witheridge six years ago.
Now travel pals Sam Venning and Carla Bartel say they too were attacked on the notorious island.
They claim the attackers were wearing the Guy Fawkes mask of the type worn in movie V for Vendetta, and commonly worn by followers of 'hacktavist' group Anonymous.
Sam – 22 at the time – says he was smashed on the head with a rock as he chatted with 20-year-old Carla on Sairee beach, reports The Mirror.
He said: “It was horrific, I was right there where their bodies were. It was where I literally face-planted the sand.”
They say they offered information to authorities probing David and Hannah’s deaths – but were never interviewed.
They have now come forward to offer their help to lawyers for the two migrant workers found guilty of the killing.
In 2015, Burmese workers Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo were sentenced to death for David and Hannah’s murders.
But the case was mired in allegations of a cover-up and mishandled forensics as the men claimed they were tortured by the Royal Thai Police into confessing.
Last year the death sentences were overturned by Thailand’s king Maha Vajiralongkorn, but the men remain in jail.
Sam, an e-commerce boss who now lives in San Francisco, says he emailed the Thai embassy in London after the killings, offering to give a statement but never heard back.
And Carla contacted the UK Foreign Commonwealth Office in her native Canada – and received an email from a Bangkok-based officer at the UK National Crime Agency telling her the information would be shared with Thai police. She heard nothing more.
The Thai embassy did not respond to requests for comment.
Koh Tao ('turtle island') is one of Thailand's most popular tourist spots, known for scuba diving and snorkelling, as well as hiking, rock climbing, and bouldering.
A series of tourist deaths – including murder and alleged suicide – particularly since 2014, has prompted some to advise that tourists avoid visiting the island.
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