The Australian owners of a spiritual retreat in the Amazonian rainforest say they are devastated after a knife fight between two men turned deadly.
Canadian Joshua Stevens, 29, allegedly killed 26-year-old British man Unais Gomes after drinking the hallucinogenic plant brew ayahuasca while staying at the retreat near the Peruvian jungle city of Iquitos.
"The fatal moments, when a knife was used, happened so quickly," Tracie Thornberry, an Australian drug and alcohol counsellor who runs the Phoenix Ayahuasca retreat with her brother Mark Thornberry, said in a statement on Sunday.
"This is such a rare and unusual event that we are all stunned. Our deepest condolences go to the families of all concerned."
Stevens was arrested for last Wednesday's incident, but reportedly released after it was determined he acted in self-defence when Gomes first came at him with a knife.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
Footage released to the media showed Stevens' arrest, the scene of the fight and what was believed to be the weapon.
Ms Thornberry said she was in Australia when the incident happened and her brother was in hospital recovering from pneumonia.
On the retreat's website Ms Thornberry, originally from Orange in central NSW, said she was researching alternative treatment programs for addiction when she came across ayahuasca and was intrigued by the reported success of using it to treat addiction.
Made from a vine, ayahuasca is a traditional brew in Amazonian Peru.
"After working with the medicine now for four years I have seen how ayahuasca helps us to clear past traumas and negative energies, so we can live clearer and cleaner lives," Ms Thornberry wrote on the retreat's website.
"I've seen profound changes in people who suffer from depression, PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), addictions of all kinds, or who feel empty and lack direction."
The retreat offers 10-day "medicine intensives" including a tobacco purge, five ceremonies, jungle steam bath and sapo frog medicine for $1200.
Ms Thornberry, while in Australia, said it has been difficult to receive details about what happened.
"As you can imagine I am reliant on information coming to me from thousands of miles away in a jungle setting," she wrote.
"I have full faith in our staff to act appropriately even in difficult situations. Unfortunately their physical intervention could not prevent this tragedy.
"I have accounts of the events by the people present and cannot see how it could have been prevented had either Mark or I been there."
