A British teenager has died in South America after taking part in an hallucinogenic tribal drug ritual.
Henry Miller, 19, was on his gap year before university in the rainforests of Colombia with a group of other tourists when he decided to take part in a hallucinogenic drug ritual and drink ayahuasca, also known as yagé.
Miller went missing that night, and his body was found on a nearby dirt road the next day.
In a statement published in the Bristol Post, Miller’s family said:
In the last 48 hours we received the exceptionally sad news that our son Henry has died whilst travelling in Colombia.
We are being informed of the circumstances through the Foreign Office.
He was in the remote Putumayo region.
We understand that he took part in a local tribal ritual recommended by the hostel that he was staying at.
The ritual involves a drink made from local plant infusions.
We are awaiting further information from the foreign office but it is likely that a reaction to this drink was the cause.
Yahuasca is a psychedelic brew of the leaves from a number of plants, which is employed for divinatory and healing purposes by some of the native peoples of the Amazon, and the experience has grown increasingly popular with tourists.
