23 of Kidnap Victims Freed in Colombia
Gunmen released 23 captives Monday from a group of up to 80 people kidnapped the day before from two restaurants and a private estate in southwestern Colombia, police said. An American woman was among those freed.
Authorities said the mass kidnapping Sunday probably was the work of the National Liberation Army, or ELN, Colombia’s second-largest guerrilla group.
About 50 armed men, many wearing military-style uniforms and bulletproof vests, barged into the restaurants in the highlands outside the city of Cali on Sunday, grabbing dozens of people, police said. Gunmen also seized four people from the nearby estate.
U.S. citizen Helena de Lima, kidnapped along with her Colombian husband and two other family members from their estate, was freed Monday. Her husband, Eduardo, was released before his wife, but his sister and a nephew remained hostages Monday.
The De Limas said their captors wore ELN armbands.
Earlier, police had placed the total number of people kidnapped, including two freed late Sunday, at about 40. The reason for the discrepancy was not immediately clear. Families of kidnap victims in Colombia often choose not to report the abduction to authorities, preferring to deal directly with the kidnappers.
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