Erickson Aircrane crew kidnapped by Colombian rebels.
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Erickson Aircrane crew kidnapped by Colombian rebels.
Bad news. Thoughts to crew members, families, and colleagues. I hope this can be resolved rapidly and safely.
Six Americans among Ten Taken Hostage in Ecuador, Held in Colombia
(Quito, Ecuador-AP) -- Six Americans are among ten men who've been kidnapped at gunpoint by Colombian rebels.
Military officials in Ecuador say the men were on a helicopter in the Amazon jungle when the gunmen, whose faces were covered, seized the helicopter.
The officials say the ten are now being held across the border in Colombia.
Ecuador's vice president says Colombia's largest guerilla organization has claimed responsibility.
He says it's in response to an anti-narcotics effort in Colombia that's getting one-point-three (b) billion dollars in U-S aid.
Six Americans among Ten Taken Hostage in Ecuador, Held in Colombia
(Quito, Ecuador-AP) -- Six Americans are among ten men who've been kidnapped at gunpoint by Colombian rebels.
Military officials in Ecuador say the men were on a helicopter in the Amazon jungle when the gunmen, whose faces were covered, seized the helicopter.
The officials say the ten are now being held across the border in Colombia.
Ecuador's vice president says Colombia's largest guerilla organization has claimed responsibility.
He says it's in response to an anti-narcotics effort in Colombia that's getting one-point-three (b) billion dollars in U-S aid.
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Unfortunately, there were Erickson crew-members in addition to others. Not sure who owned the Super Puma, but that is confirmed as the means of departure. As there are also french hostages, perhaps Heli-Union?
Thursday October 12 8:18 PM ET
At Least 10 Kidnapped in Ecuador
By GONZALO SOLANO, Associated Press Writer
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) - Colombian rebels seized a helicopter from an oil field in the Amazon jungle early Thursday, kidnapping six Americans and at least four others and flying them into Colombian territory, military officials said.
The hostages, who also included a Chilean, an Argentine and the two Frenchmen, were taken at gunpoint before dawn in the El Coca region, 150 miles southeast of the capital, Quito, military officials said.
An Ecuadorean military communique said the gunmen, whose faces were covered, claimed to be members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, Colombia's largest guerrilla group.
The guerrilla group denied any part in the attack.
The military statement added that the helicopter was detected flying near Ecuador's jungle town of Lago Agrio at 6:25 a.m. before passing over the San Miguel River into Colombian territory.
The exact number of hostages wasn't immediately clear. Though the Ecuadorean military said 10 people were captured, Ecuadorean Vice President Pedro Pinto said nine were seized, including one Ecuadorean.
But the U.S. State Department said at least 10 and as many as 25 people were taken hostage by 15 heavily-armed men.
Despite the rebel denial, Pinto said the FARC had claimed responsibility. He added that the group said the hijacking was in "reprisal for Plan Colombia,'' an anti-narcotics initiative backed by a $1.3 billion U.S. aid package.
"I can assure you with total security that the FARC has nothing to do with this incident,'' rebel spokesman Carlos Antonio Lozada told The Associated Press by phone. "It is not the policy of the FARC to carry out military operations outside Colombian borders.''
The rebels, whose field commanders operate with substantial autonomy, have had to backpedal on denials in the past.
Last month, a rebel fighter hijacked a commuter plane and forced it down at a FARC-held southern airport. The group initially denied he belonged to their organization, then later conceded he did.
The U.S. Embassy in Quito said it was working closely with Ecuadorean officials to obtain the victims' release.
In Washington, FBI (news - web sites) spokesman Bill Carter said its legal attache in Colombia was in touch with Ecuadorean authorities and had "offered any FBI assistance needed.''
The oil field is operated by Spanish energy giant Repsol YPF SA. Repsol is the parent company of Houston-based Maxus Energy, which said it was not aware of any of its workers being taken.
Three of the abducted Americans are from Oregon-based Erickson Air Crane Co., the U.S. State Department said.
Two other Americans were drilling rig employees from Helmerich and Payne, an Oklahoma-based drilling company, said Steve Mackey, vice president and general counsel for the Tulsa firm. He declined to identify the two employees.
The Ecuadorean military communique identified the Americans as Dennis Correy, Steve Derry, Jason Wavey, David Bradley, Ron Sanders, and Arnold Arfold. No hometowns were immediately available.
The Associated Press obtained an internal document from foreign oil companies operating in Ecuador calling for stepped-up security measures to protect their operations and employees. For several months the army has been beefing up its presence along the jungle border.
The oil field lies in Ecuador's northern territory bordering Colombia's largest cocaine-producing region.
Rebels and paramilitaries are vying for control of vast coca fields and millions of dollars in "tax'' proceeds for whichever armed group controls the area.
Government spokesman Alfredo Negrete called the kidnappings "an isolated act.''
Thursday October 12 8:18 PM ET
At Least 10 Kidnapped in Ecuador
By GONZALO SOLANO, Associated Press Writer
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) - Colombian rebels seized a helicopter from an oil field in the Amazon jungle early Thursday, kidnapping six Americans and at least four others and flying them into Colombian territory, military officials said.
The hostages, who also included a Chilean, an Argentine and the two Frenchmen, were taken at gunpoint before dawn in the El Coca region, 150 miles southeast of the capital, Quito, military officials said.
An Ecuadorean military communique said the gunmen, whose faces were covered, claimed to be members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, Colombia's largest guerrilla group.
The guerrilla group denied any part in the attack.
The military statement added that the helicopter was detected flying near Ecuador's jungle town of Lago Agrio at 6:25 a.m. before passing over the San Miguel River into Colombian territory.
The exact number of hostages wasn't immediately clear. Though the Ecuadorean military said 10 people were captured, Ecuadorean Vice President Pedro Pinto said nine were seized, including one Ecuadorean.
But the U.S. State Department said at least 10 and as many as 25 people were taken hostage by 15 heavily-armed men.
Despite the rebel denial, Pinto said the FARC had claimed responsibility. He added that the group said the hijacking was in "reprisal for Plan Colombia,'' an anti-narcotics initiative backed by a $1.3 billion U.S. aid package.
"I can assure you with total security that the FARC has nothing to do with this incident,'' rebel spokesman Carlos Antonio Lozada told The Associated Press by phone. "It is not the policy of the FARC to carry out military operations outside Colombian borders.''
The rebels, whose field commanders operate with substantial autonomy, have had to backpedal on denials in the past.
Last month, a rebel fighter hijacked a commuter plane and forced it down at a FARC-held southern airport. The group initially denied he belonged to their organization, then later conceded he did.
The U.S. Embassy in Quito said it was working closely with Ecuadorean officials to obtain the victims' release.
In Washington, FBI (news - web sites) spokesman Bill Carter said its legal attache in Colombia was in touch with Ecuadorean authorities and had "offered any FBI assistance needed.''
The oil field is operated by Spanish energy giant Repsol YPF SA. Repsol is the parent company of Houston-based Maxus Energy, which said it was not aware of any of its workers being taken.
Three of the abducted Americans are from Oregon-based Erickson Air Crane Co., the U.S. State Department said.
Two other Americans were drilling rig employees from Helmerich and Payne, an Oklahoma-based drilling company, said Steve Mackey, vice president and general counsel for the Tulsa firm. He declined to identify the two employees.
The Ecuadorean military communique identified the Americans as Dennis Correy, Steve Derry, Jason Wavey, David Bradley, Ron Sanders, and Arnold Arfold. No hometowns were immediately available.
The Associated Press obtained an internal document from foreign oil companies operating in Ecuador calling for stepped-up security measures to protect their operations and employees. For several months the army has been beefing up its presence along the jungle border.
The oil field lies in Ecuador's northern territory bordering Colombia's largest cocaine-producing region.
Rebels and paramilitaries are vying for control of vast coca fields and millions of dollars in "tax'' proceeds for whichever armed group controls the area.
Government spokesman Alfredo Negrete called the kidnappings "an isolated act.''
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Monday October 16 9:43 PM ET
2 Pilots Escape Captors in Ecuador
By GONZALO SOLANO, Associated Press Writer
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) - Two French helicopter pilots who were among 10 people kidnapped last week in Ecuador's Amazon have escaped and are in protective custody in the capital, a government spokesman said Monday.
Spokesman Alfredo Negrete revealed no details of the escape and did not comment on the other captives, who include five Americans. But a military official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity said both men arrived by foot at the outskirts of Lago Agrio, a jungle town near Ecuador's border with Colombia, at midday Monday.
"They made contact with a military patrol,'' the official said. "Our soldiers gave them immediate assistance and after verifying their health conditions transported them to Quito in one of our planes.''
The Frenchmen and the eight other captives were kidnapped Thursday from oil fields in this country's northeast, and many speculated they had been taken across the border to Colombia, where kidnapping is endemic.
The incident began when an armed band slipped into the oil camps 150 miles east of the capital and rounded up captives, an Ecuadorean military official said. The kidnappers had counted on finding Ecuadorean pilots to fly them out. When they were unable to do so, they reportedly forced the two Frenchmen - a pilot and co-pilot employed by Aeromaster SA - to fly them and the eight other captives out in one of the transport company's helicopters.
The captives included five Americans, a New Zealander, a Chilean, and an Argentine who were working at the oil camps.
Three of the Americans - Arnold Alford, Steve Derry and Jason Weber, all from Oregon's Rogue Valley area - and the New Zealander, Dennis Corrin, are employees of the Oregon-based Erickson Air-Crane Co. The company, which specializes in heavy-lift helicopters and had been transporting equipment for an exploratory oil drilling program, has released no information other than the names of its employees.
The two other American captives have been identified by Ecuador's military as David Bradley and Ron Sanders. The Oklahoma-based drilling company Helmerich and Payne said that two of its drilling rig workers were among the kidnap victims, but as of Monday the company had not confirmed the employees' identities.
Soldiers on Friday found the stolen helicopter abandoned in Ecuador near a river that divides the country from Colombia. On Monday, about 3,000 police and soldiers combed through the oil-rich region of Ecuador's northeast Amazon near the Colombian border in search of the hostages or any remaining kidnappers.
Negrete said earlier Monday that the kidnappers had not yet made any contact. "We are confronting the most difficult days, the days of silence,'' he said.
The kidnappers were thought to have fled to Colombia, into a border region where the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, has been engaged in furious battles with right-wing paramilitary groups for control of cocaine production.
Ecuador's government initially blamed the FARC for the kidnapping and charged the action was in retaliation for Plan Colombia, an anti-drug initiative backed by $1.3 billion in U.S. aid. The rebel group has denied any involvement.
2 Pilots Escape Captors in Ecuador
By GONZALO SOLANO, Associated Press Writer
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) - Two French helicopter pilots who were among 10 people kidnapped last week in Ecuador's Amazon have escaped and are in protective custody in the capital, a government spokesman said Monday.
Spokesman Alfredo Negrete revealed no details of the escape and did not comment on the other captives, who include five Americans. But a military official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity said both men arrived by foot at the outskirts of Lago Agrio, a jungle town near Ecuador's border with Colombia, at midday Monday.
"They made contact with a military patrol,'' the official said. "Our soldiers gave them immediate assistance and after verifying their health conditions transported them to Quito in one of our planes.''
The Frenchmen and the eight other captives were kidnapped Thursday from oil fields in this country's northeast, and many speculated they had been taken across the border to Colombia, where kidnapping is endemic.
The incident began when an armed band slipped into the oil camps 150 miles east of the capital and rounded up captives, an Ecuadorean military official said. The kidnappers had counted on finding Ecuadorean pilots to fly them out. When they were unable to do so, they reportedly forced the two Frenchmen - a pilot and co-pilot employed by Aeromaster SA - to fly them and the eight other captives out in one of the transport company's helicopters.
The captives included five Americans, a New Zealander, a Chilean, and an Argentine who were working at the oil camps.
Three of the Americans - Arnold Alford, Steve Derry and Jason Weber, all from Oregon's Rogue Valley area - and the New Zealander, Dennis Corrin, are employees of the Oregon-based Erickson Air-Crane Co. The company, which specializes in heavy-lift helicopters and had been transporting equipment for an exploratory oil drilling program, has released no information other than the names of its employees.
The two other American captives have been identified by Ecuador's military as David Bradley and Ron Sanders. The Oklahoma-based drilling company Helmerich and Payne said that two of its drilling rig workers were among the kidnap victims, but as of Monday the company had not confirmed the employees' identities.
Soldiers on Friday found the stolen helicopter abandoned in Ecuador near a river that divides the country from Colombia. On Monday, about 3,000 police and soldiers combed through the oil-rich region of Ecuador's northeast Amazon near the Colombian border in search of the hostages or any remaining kidnappers.
Negrete said earlier Monday that the kidnappers had not yet made any contact. "We are confronting the most difficult days, the days of silence,'' he said.
The kidnappers were thought to have fled to Colombia, into a border region where the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, has been engaged in furious battles with right-wing paramilitary groups for control of cocaine production.
Ecuador's government initially blamed the FARC for the kidnapping and charged the action was in retaliation for Plan Colombia, an anti-drug initiative backed by $1.3 billion in U.S. aid. The rebel group has denied any involvement.
