LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peruvian police say gunmen believed to be Shining Path rebels have abducted seven Peruvian employees of the Swedish construction company Skanska who were building a natural gas plant in the Amazon jungle.
Regional police chief Col. Roland Bayona says the gunmen originally seized 30 Skanska workers overnight Sunday but later freed 23.
Skanska spokesman Edvard Lind in Sweden said he did not know the identity of the kidnappers or whether they were seeking ransom or had political motives.
The kidnapping occurred at Kepashiato in the Camisea gas fields.
The Shining Path has not committed a mass abduction since 2003, when it seized 60 workers of the Argentine company Techint working on a Camisea pipeline. They were freed two days later and officials said no ransom was paid.
