Belgians among group of tourists who were held hostage in Peru for 24 hours | Abroad

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Amazonians in Peru have detained a group of tourists for 24 hours. Among the tourists were also some Belgians, according to our editors at Foreign Affairs. About 70 people on a riverboat were detained in protest at a lack of government assistance following an oil spill in the area.

“With this action, we draw the attention of the government. There are foreigners and Peruvians, together about 70 people,” Watson Trujillo, the leader of the Cuninico community, told local radio station RPP.

Trujillo said his group took the “radical measure” in an effort to put pressure on the government to send a delegation and assess environmental damage after 2,500 tons of crude oil spilled into the Cuninico River on Sept. 16.

During riverboat trip

Those on board the boat, including pregnant women, people with disabilities and a one-month-old baby, spent a day and a night without water or electricity. Leader Trujillo blew off the hostage situation on Friday. “The law and respect for life are paramount. We will do what is necessary so that the people who were on the boat can get to their destination.”

Among those detained on the riverboat were pregnant women, the elderly, people with disabilities and young children. © Twitter

The group was detained while taking a riverboat trip. In addition to British, American, French, Spanish and Swiss citizens, the detained tourists also included some Belgians. That is what the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says. Angela Ramirez, a young woman detained, said on social media that the hostage-takers treated them kindly and respectfully. “But this is the only way they found a solution for their community,” the woman said.

Leak in pipeline

Indigenous communities had already blocked the passage of all ships on the river in protest at the spill caused by a rupture in the Norperuano oil pipeline. On September 27, the government declared a 90-day state of emergency in the region, which is home to the communities of Cuninico and Urarinas and where about 2,500 indigenous people live.

Owned by the state-owned Petroperu, the 800km-long Norperuano pipeline was constructed four decades ago to transport crude oil from the Amazon Basin to Piura, on the coast.

Petroperu said the spill was the result of a deliberate 21cm cut in the pipeline.

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