Members of the Amazon tribe in Ecuador released six people they had kidnapped (Representation)
Quito:
Members of the Amazon tribe in Ecuador have released six people they had kidnapped to demand the release of the body of a chief killed by the coronavirus, the government announced on Saturday.
On Thursday, two police officers, two soldiers and two civilians were captured by the indigenous people in the village of Kumay, near the Peruvian border.
Their deceased chief of COVID-19 was buried in accordance with health directives, but the body was then exhumed and returned to the people.
Interior Minister Maria Paula Romo said on Twitter that “freed citizens” had undergone medical examinations after their ordeal in the province of Pastaza, in the Amazon jungle of south-eastern Ecuador.
“The crowd of those detaining the kidnapping was around 600,” said Romo, adding that negotiations to release the prisoners were led by General Patricio Carrillo, the police commander.
Police said on Twitter that a special team had carried out a “process of exhumation and identification” on Saturday of the leader’s body, which was transported by the authorities to Kumay.
Ecuador is one of the Latin American countries most affected by the pandemic with more than 61,000 cases, including around 4,800 deaths.
(This story has not been edited by GalacticGaming staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
