Ranger killed, two British nationals kidnapped in Congo national park

 

BENI, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - A park ranger was killed and two British citizens were kidnapped on Friday in Democratic Republic of Congo's Virunga National Park, a park service official and a local civil society leader said.

 

Unidentified armed men ambushed the group in the morning near the village of Kibati just north of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, said Mambo Kawaya, who heads a group of local civil society organisations.

 

The Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN) confirmed that one of its rangers was killed in the incident and that two British nationals were among three people abducted.

 

"For the moment the (ICCN) cannot communicate much about the incident because the hostages are still in captivity. That would put their lives in danger," Joel Wenga, the ICCN's head of communications in North Kivu told Reuters.

 

Britain's Foreign Office said it was in contact with the Congolese authorities "following an incident involving two British nationals" and said its staff were providing support to their families.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-05-12

I just hope that its not that newly wed couple who got an arm bitten off last week , who got kidnapped

British Government advice is not to travel to DRC because of the risk of kidnapping.  Lets hope they are released.

Not the most touristy part of the world, though some people get off on the place. Hope the Brits get released safely. Most Congolese are probably decent (the ones i met were anyway) just the mad minority again kidnap, murder and general mayhem.

It's so sad that some of the most beautiful and interesting places are also some of the most risky in terms of kidnapping and murder.