Kidnapped Briton freed in Ecuador

Sep 30 2012

A British woman kidnapped in Ecuador while visiting a remote nature reserve in the Amazon jungle has been rescued.

The tourist, who was abducted on Friday with an Australian woman, was seized by what authorities in the country said was a Colombian group, the BBC said.

Ecuador's interior minister Jose Serrano said the pair were rescued on Saturday night by police and armed forces.

He said the 23-year-old English woman and the 32-year-old Australian woman, who haven't been named, "are in good condition".

The incident took place as the women travelled by canoe as part of a tour group in the Cuyabeno nature reserve in the Tarapoa region of Sucumbios province, in the north east of Ecuador close to the border with Colombia.

The Ecuadorian government said three other foreigners were with the two women when the group was set upon in the park. The other three were not taken by the kidnappers.

A spokeswoman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said it was aware of the kidnapping incident and was working with the Ecuadorian authorities.

The FCO currently advises against all travel to the areas immediately bordering Colombia in Carchi province due to criminal activity and organised crime.