Tourist hostages including Britons are RELEASED after they were held in Peru

A group of tourists including Britons and Americans have been freed after they were taken hostage by an indigenous group in a remote part of the Amazon rainforest in Peru.

They were travelling on river boats along with travellers from France, Spain and Switzerland when they were detained on the Cuninico river.

A leader of the indigenous group said they wanted to ‘catch the government’s attention’ after not getting enough state help over an oil spill in September.

But after a day spent trapped without water or electricity, the chief Watson Trujillo announced the end of the hostage.

He told RPP Noticias: ‘The right and respect for life must prevail, in this context, we are going to provide the facilities so that the people who are on the boat can move to their destinations.’

Angela Ramirez, one of those detained, previously said: ‘We spent the night here. We already have hardly no 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.’ 

Britons have been taken hostage by an indigenous group in a remote part of the Amazon rainforest in Peru, local media reported

The tourists were part of a group of 70 travellers who were also from France, Spain, the US and Switzerland when they were held up on their river boat

Angela Ramirez, who is one of those detained, said a one-month-old child, pregnant women, people with disabilities and the elderly are among those on board

Angela had been on a cycling trip through the Peruvian jungle for eight days when they tried to travel through the Cuninico River by boat today and were detained.

In a previous post, she said: ‘Help me publish, we are in Cuninico an indigenous community of the jungle, we are hostages of the community, as there were 46 oil spills, from which two children and one woman died. 

‘They are KIND AND RESPECTFUL to us, but it is the only way they have found to look for solutions for their community.

‘The quicker they are heard the quicker they will let us go… Help me share, we’re physically fine. Help me help them to be heard.’ 

Trujillo, who leads the Cuninico community, said the ‘drastic measures’ were intended to put pressure on the government to send a delegation to assess the damage from the spill of 2,500 tons of crude oil into the Cuninico river.

A group leader said they wanted to ‘catch the government’s attention with this action’ after not receiving enough state help from an oil spill in September

Angela (pictured) had been on a cycling trip through the Peruvian jungle for eight days when they tried to travel through the Cuninico River by boat today and were detained

The government and police did not comment on the incident, which took place on a tributary of the Maranon river.

Indigenous communities had been blocking the transit of all vessels on the river in protest over the spill, which was caused by a rupture in the Norperuano oil pipeline.

On September 27, the government declared a 90-day state of emergency in the affected region, which is home to the Cuninico and Urarinas communities and where about 2,500 indigenous people live.

The 800km-long Norperuano pipeline, owned by state-owned Petroperu, was built four decades ago to transport crude oil from the Amazon to ports.

According to Petroperu, the spill was the result of an intentional eight-inch cut in the pipeline.