Swiss tourist among hostages freed in Peru oil spill protest
Hostages have been taken to protest an oil spill in a Peruvian river.
Keystone / Rodrigo Abd
A Swiss citizen was among the more than 100 tourists freed a day after being taken hostage by local residents demanding action after a recent oil spill in a river in the Peruvian Amazon.
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Suíços mantidos como reféns por derramamento de petróleo no Peru
On Friday, Peru’s tourist minister Roberto Sanchez confirmed that the tourists were on their way home after negotiations led to the release of the hostages. Among the more than 100 people taken hostage were 27 tourists from the US, Spain, France, the United Kingdom and Switzerland as well as about 80 Peruvians.
According to Swiss public radio, RTS, residents in the community Cuninico had kidnapped the tourists, who had been traveling by boat along the river, as a way to demand action by the Peruvian authorities in response to an oil spill. In September some 2,500 tonnes of oil from the state-owned Norperuano (ONP) pipeline spilled into the Cuninico river.
The government declared a state of emergency in the region where some 2,500 indigenous people live. The head of the Cuninico community, Watson Trujillo has called for a government delegation to investigate the spill and the environmental impacts.
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