THE model wife of a Paraguayan top-flight footballer has been shot dead at a concert.
Cristina Vita Aranda, who has three children with Club Olimpia player Ivan Torres, was pronounced dead shortly after being rushed to hospital with a bullet wound to her head.
Local reports said left-back Torres, a former U20 international, was also at the concert and helped get his wife to hospital.
The model and influencer announced recently they were planning to divorce after 10 years of marriage.
The pretty brunette is believed to have been caught up in the crossfire of a gunfight in a VIP area at the Jose Asuncion Flores Ampitheatre in the Paraguayan capital Asuncion, although Sunday’s shooting is still being investigated by police and prosecutors.
A man named as Marcos Ignacio Rojas Mora also died, with unconfirmed reports saying the intended target was a drug dealer identified locally as Ederson Salinas Benitez.
Four people aged between 23 and 40 were also shot and were being treated for their injuries in hospital today.
Ivan, who began his career with Paraguayan side Cerro Porteno before signing for the club’s arch-rivals Club Olimpia in December 2014, is said to have suffered a panic attack but was uninjured.
Local TV footage showed one of the victims being carried out of the ampitheatre on a stretcher by security guards and paramedics while a man who also appeared to be hurt was guided towards an exit by two men helping him to walk.
Confirming 29-year-old Cristina’s death, Itaugua Nacional Hospital director Yolanda Gonzalez said: “She was intubated when she arrived and attempts were made to resuscitate her for at least 25 minutes after she went into cardiac arrest.
“She died after the lengthy attempts to save her life.”
Vita Aranda described herself on Instagram to her 445,000 followers as a personal trainer although she also did modelling work and was often referred to as an influencer in her homeland.
She posted footage of herself four days before her death working out in the gym.
She wrote alongside the selfie video of her lifting weights: “People think I go to the gym only so I can show off a good body.
“What they don’t know is that it controls stress and anxiety, it helps improves my morale and it gives me physical and mental strength and confidence.”
Cristina and her husband posed together for a Christmas picture before the brunette’s recent announcement they had decided to call time on their relationship.
Ivan, who has yet to publicly comment on the tragedy, wrote: “Family united and the table laid, the most special thing of every Christmas.”
