A Bolivian diplomat, Senor Roberto Quintanilla Pereiro, was shot in the chest yesterday morning (Thursday) in a study at the Consulate building in Hamburg. He was taken to the Eppendorf hospital where he later died of his injuries.

Police said several shots were fired, two of which struck him in the chest. They said they were seeking a woman of about 35-40 suspected of firing the shots. The woman apparently lost a grey wig as she left the building, where two coat buttons and a pair of gold-rimmed spectacles were also found.

At the Consulate it was suggested the attacker was an English-speaking woman who had applied a week earlier for a visa to enable a folklore group to travel to La Paz. She was due to collect the visa yesterday.

Senor Quintanilla, who was 43, married with three children, took up the Hamburg post in May 1970 and was officially recalled at the end of February. He had remained at his post to await a replacement. Earlier, he was a key figure in investigations into the helicopter crash that killed President Rene Barrientos in April, 1969.