A British tourist has been killed in a knife attack in Cyprus after stepping in to defend a fellow British girl who was being harassed. The assailants have been described as “foreign nationals”. A second victim was injured in the attack.

George Low, 22, was enjoying a night out at the end of a week’s holiday in the Cypriot town of Ayia Napa when he allegedly stepped in to stop a group of men who were “disrespecting and harassing” an English girl.

Mr Low is said to have told them “that’s enough.” Two of the men disappeared, only to return twenty minutes later with a knife, the Guardian has reported.

Mr Low was stabbed in the neck as he walked down Grigori Afxentiou Street, a busy main road, severing an artery. His friend Ben Parker, also 22, was stabbed four times in the back but is expected to make a full recovery.

According to witness accounts there were two assailants, described by local police as “foreign nationals.” Famagusta District Assistant Police Chief Georgios Economou confirmed that the men are still at large, but that investigators have been able to track some of their movements via CCTV. An alert is out at airports, ports and crossing points to be on the lookout for the men.

Both victims had previously worked at the resort town for the last two seasons, Low as the manager of a nightclub where he was a popular figure. He had returned to the UK to take up a job in estate agency, but returned regularly to the island to visit friends. He was due to fly home just hours after the attack occurred, at the end of a week-long break.

According to the Daily Mail he leaves behind his parents, Helen and Martyn Low, as well as two brothers, Wesley, 23, and Oliver, 11, and two sisters, Laura, 19 and Millie, 17.

Mrs Low, a community carer, said: “I keep thinking I’m going to wake up out of this nightmare and I’d have my boy back.

“He was a lovely young man. George was the kind of person that would help out a girl if she was in trouble.”

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are providing support to the family of a British National who sadly died in Cyprus on 14th August and will remain in contact with the local authorities who are investigating.”