LIMA (Reuters) – A Peruvian indigenous group has detained at least 70 boat passengers, including U.S. and European travelers, in protest over what they say is the state’s inaction on oil spills in a local river, local media reported late on Thursday.
The indigenous group, from the Urarinas district in northern Loreto province, said their action was aimed at raising awareness, local news outlet RPP Noticias said. The group is not believed to have threatened any physical harm.
Local authorities had not made any formal statement regarding the incident as of Friday morning. Media reports cited the number being held as from 70 to as many as 300 people.
One tourist, Angela Ramirez, told RPP television in a phone interview that the group had been fed several times since they had been held. She said they had been informed they would be detained for six to eight days if there were no resolution.
Among those detained while traveling in river boats is a one-month-old child, people with disabilities and pregnant women, she said.
The United Kingdom foreign office said in a statement that it was in contact with local authorities regarding a “very small number of British nationals involved in an incident in Peru.”
(Reporting by Marco Aquino and Isabel Woodford; Writing by Isabel Woodford; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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