Shortly after Midnight yesterday morning, gunmen stormed a palm-thatched hut at Kenya’s Kiwayu Safari Village and shot dead a British man before kidnapping his wife.
It is thought that the gunmen had crept past six armed policemen and 22 security guards at the beach resort, located 30 miles from the border with Somalia.
Once in the hut, they are said to have ordered the couple to hand over all of their money and possessions.
Moments later, the husband was shot in the head and killed while trying to protect his wife, who was then bundled into a speedboat and taken away, according to reports in UK newspaper The Guardian.
The resort, which opened in 1973, has 18 huts along a mile or so of pristine white beaches within a marine reserve. The hut was the furthest away from the hotel reception
"They were using clothes [as a] door, so [the attackers] gained entry easily," Mathew Iteere, a police commissioner, told a press conference in Nairobi on Sunday.
A Kenyan security official said one policeman had arrived at the scene shortly after and seen a group of men carrying away a woman. It is thought the officer did not shoot for fear of injuring her.
Although a rescue mission has begun, the wife's fate remains unknown, as do the identities of her abductors, the newspaper reported.
Tourism is a fundamental part of Kenya's economy and the country is a hugely popular destination for British holidaymakers as well as travellers from the Middle East region. In the first six months of 2011 Britons made up 14.3% of the record number of arrivals, which totalled 549,083.
Abu Chiaba, a member of parliament for Lamu East and assistant fisheries minister was quoted in the newspaper, he said there was a need for better security patrols along the border with Somalia as it was an area visited by tourists and provided a livelihood for local people.
Somali gunmen have attacked westerners, across the Kenyan border, on several occasions. Three aid workers were kidnapped in July 2009, and two western nuns in November 2008.
Three years ago, the 77-year-old British missionary Brian Thorp was murdered during a robbery on Lamu.
Previous guests include Sir Mick Jagger, the artist Tracey Emin and the actor Imelda Staunton.
The Foreign Office has not talked about the couple's identity, but said it was doing its best to free the woman.
One hotel owner, who did not want to be named, told The Guardian that his customers were beginning to panic in the aftermath of the murder.
"We are doing our best to keep people calm but people are really scared," he said.
"A lot of people have left already and we are expecting more to leave tomorrow. It's a very sad time for everyone, this is the worst thing that could happen."
In a statement the FCO called on the abductors to let her go, saying: "We are working to secure the safe and swift release of the British national who has been kidnapped and ask those involved to show compassion and release the individual immediately."
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