British, Spanish, and French tourists including children held hostage in Peru’s Amazon rainforest

TOURISTS from Britain and Spain are among 150 adults and children currently being held hostage in Peru’s Amazon rainforest, according to reports.

It is believed that the travellers were on a river boat when an indigenous group in a remote part of the Amazon jungle took them hostage.

Those captured were part of a group of up to 150 tourists from countries including France, Spain, the US, and Switzerland.

Indigenous people from Cuninico in the Loreto province, Peru’s northernmost region, are said to be attempting to get attention from the state after constant oil spills in the Cuninico River.

“[We want] to call the government’s attention with this action, there are foreigners and Peruvians, there are about 70 people,” Watson Trujillo, the leader of the Cuninico community, told Radio Programas del Perú (RPP Radio).

“(We want) to call the government’s attention with this action, there are foreigners and Peruvians, there are about 70 people,” Watson Trujillo, the leader of the Cuninico community, told RPP radio.

Full Story: https://t.co/grgi9FjKCe#Peruvianamazon#DailyTribune pic.twitter.com/wPMrnYJHwD

— Concept News Central (@cnc_tribunephl) November 4, 2022

Elsewhere RPP Noticias reported that the number of people being held was 150, among whom there are children, including a one-month-old child, people with disabilities, pregnant women, and elderly people.

Angela Ramirez, who is one of those detained, said they have been told they could be held hostage for up to eight days until a solution is reached, the publication reported.

She wrote in a Facebook post: “We spent the night here. We already have hardly any water to drink, the sun is shining very strong, there are babies crying, the youngest is only one month old, pregnant women, disabled people, and the elderly are on board.

“Now we do not have electricity to charge our phones, nor water to wash ourselves. Help me share please.”

Brits ‘among 150 tourists taken HOSTAGE’ including women & kids in Amazon https://t.co/cZkCKZPwMo pic.twitter.com/sxrWYHNZal

— The Scottish Sun (@ScottishSun) November 4, 2022

Ramírez said that the reason for the retention is because the community members of Cuninico seek the attention of the government to deal with the spills that have occurred in the region.

“They told us that it was because they sought the State’s attention to solve the oil spill 46 times and that as a result there are now two deceased children and a woman.”

Ramírez revealed community members told the group that they would be held between 6 to 8 days until a solution is reached and the oil spill is tackled.

Approximately 2,500 Indigenous people live in the area affected by the oil disaster, with the government declaring a state of national emergency over the incident on September 27.

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