AN Irish charity worker whose body was found with serious head wounds near a beach in Zanzibar, Tanzania has been described as a generous man who "always wanted to give something back".

The victim of what is believed to have been an attack was identified as 26-year-old Rob Stringer from Co Wicklow.

His remains were found in a bush near to the beach early on Friday morning.

It is believed he may have been the victim of a mugging as he had suffered head injuries and his wallet and shoes are reported to have been taken.

Stringer had just finished an eight-week stint working with the Irish charity Camara which provides technological aid to countries in Africa, and it is believed he planned to spend more time travelling before returning home.

A Dublin-based friend told the Sunday Tribune: "He was kind and generous, thoughtful and considerate. He was full of life and loved helping people.

"He always wanted to give something back which is why he went over there, to make a difference in people's lives."

Stringer had worked as an events manager and had previously been involved with the Life Festival before leaving for Africa.

"He was talking about going out there non-stop for the last few months. He was really looking forward to it and Zanzibar was such an exotic place.

"He had a plan to get a motorbike and drive up the coast through Africa and then get back here and get back into putting on gigs."

Stringer was known as Bob to his friends and had lived in Rathmines in south Dublin before heading off to do charity work with Camara, with whom he was a team leader.

Local authorities have begun an investigation into the young man's death and will await the results of a postmortem.

The Department of Foreign Affairs is offering assistance to the family of the deceased while embassy officials from Dar-es-Salaam are liaising with officials on the ground.

Zanzibar, part of the east African republic of Tanzania, is an island chain around 50km off the coast.