SAO PAULO (Brazil) July 24: The Brazilian government was shocked and perplexed to learn that London police mistakenly shot to death a Brazilian citizen on a subway car, the Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

The government expects the British authorities to explain the circumstances that led to this tragedy, the statement said, without citing the citizen’s name or giving any other information about the incident.

London authorities said 27-year-old Jean Charles de Menezes was killed on Friday at the Stockwell subway station as police investigated the series of botched transit bombings a day earlier and the July 7 attacks that killed 56 people, including the four bombers.

The Brazilian government said in the Brazilian citizen was apparently the victim of a lamentable mistake.

Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, who is on his way to London for talks on UN reform, will try to meet British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to seek an explanation, the statement added.

Local media reported that Menezes was an electrician who had been living legally and working in England for three years.

He spoke English very well, and had permission to study and work there, Menezes’ cousin Maria Alves told the O Globo Online Web site from her home in Sao Paulo. GloboNews TV reported that Menezes’ body was identified by another cousin, Alex Alves Pereira.—Agencies