A group travelling on a river boat in Peru have reportedly been taken hostage in the Amazon rainforest. It is believed that British nationals are involved.
Local media in the area are reporting that indigenous people Cuninico in the Loreto province, Peru's northernmost region, are trying to get attention from the state after constant oil spills in the Cuninico River. It is not clear how many people are involved in the situation, with reports varying between 70 and 150.
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."
It is reported that the tourist group that has been detained included people from the UK, Switzerland, the USA, Spain and France. Men, women and children are among the number.
Community members told local media that they would hold the tourists for between six to eight days until a solution is reached over the spill of 2,500 tons of crude oil. Trujillo said his group had taken the "radical measure" in an effort to put pressure on the government to send a delegation to assess the environmental damage, reports the Mirror.
Indigenous communities had already been blocking the transit of all vessels on the river in protest against the spill, which was caused by a rupture in the Norperuano oil pipeline. RRP Radio reports that there is a one-month-old child, people with disabilities, pregnant women and elderly people among those being held.
Around 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. The protesters claim two children and a woman have been killed in the area due to oil spills.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has been approached for comment by the Mirror.
