THE two
British tourists who were taken hostage in the Democratic Republic of
Congo on Friday have been released, Foreign Secretary
Boris Johnson said this afternoon.
Mr Johnson announced the news two days after the tourists were taken hostage in the famous gorilla sanctuary.
He said: "I am delighted to announce that two British nationals who were held hostage in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been released.
"I pay tribute to the DRC authorities and the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation for their tireless help during this terrible case.
"My thoughts are now with the family of Virunga Park ranger Rachel Makissa Baraka who was killed during the kidnapping, and with the injured driver and the released British nationals as they recover from this traumatic incident."
The tourists, who are reported to be two men, are believed to have been ambushed by an unidentified group of armed men on Friday morning in Goma, the capital of Democratic Republic of Congo's North Kivu province, while they were exploring Virunga National Park with another person.
Ms Baraka, who had been critically injured in the ambush and later died in the hospital, was hailed a heroine for demonstrating her bravery and giving her life to protect the tourists.
Park Director, Emmanuel de Merode, said Ms Baraka was one of the park’s 26 female rangers and was "highly committed, showing true bravery in her work".
He added that she became the eighth ranger killed in 2018 alone in the park.
This, he said, was "a stark reminder of the level of risk the rangers undertake on a daily basis to help conserve the park’s wildlife and protect local communities".
A total number of 175 rangers have been murdered in the park in 20 years.
The two British tourists are reportedly unharmed and have been receiving support and medical attention in Congo, while waiting to be transferred to the UK.
Director of the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation thanked the "brave team" for ensuring a swift resolution of the incident.
SAS troops are believed to have been involved in the operations conducted in the past days to save the tourists.
A military insider told Express.co.uk: “The SAS lads have been flown out to the DRC and are in place to do whatever is required of them to extract the targets.”
Major Guillaume Kaiko Ndjike, the DRC army's spokesman in North Kivu, said today: “With Virunga National Park being within our zone of action, we have joined the park rangers for search operations for the people taken hostages."
Tourism in the area have been severely affected in recent years by the rising violence caused by presence of militant groups and criminal gangs, who continue to fund a long-running war by pillaging the park's resources.
The Foreign Office has been advising against travelling to provinces across the Democratic Republic of Congo as the situation in the eastern part of the country "remains unstable".
The Office added: “The continued presence of armed groups, military operations against them, intercommunal violence and an influx of refugees from neighbouring countries all contribute to a deterioration in the political, security and humanitarian situation.
“There are continued reports of kidnappings, including of staff from international NGOs.”