CORRECTED: Three Latvian pilots abducted in Darfur

NYALA

(

5 Nov

.) -

Three Latvian air crewmen were abducted in Darfur yesterday. The crewmen work for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). The abductees are described as two pilots and a mechanic.

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The governor of South Darfur State announced the abduction in remarks to reporters today. A state news agency said that the pilots were in Nyala, walking in a residential area, when eight gunmen in a car abducted them.

WFP confirmed that the pilots work for the agency.

A similar abduction of three Russian pilots occurred in August, also in a residential quarter of Nyala. The pilots were later released unharmed. Another Russian pilot contracted by the UN had been kidnapped at a remote landing site about a month earlier, and held for several days.

The AFP reported that crewmen are employees of GM Helicopters, a Latvian company.

CORRECTION: Upon initial publishing, this text stated that the crewmen were Russians.

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