LEBANON-CZECHS/MISSING Five Czechs, Lebanese driver are missing Lebanon - Czech foreign ministry

Record ID: 146730

  • Title: LEBANON-CZECHS/MISSING Five Czechs, Lebanese driver are missing Lebanon - Czech foreign ministry
  • Date: 18th July 2015
  • Summary: KEFRAYA, LEBANON (JULY 18, 2015) (REUTERS) ROAD IN REGION OF EASTERN LEBANON WHERE FIVE CZECH NATIONALS AND THEIR LEBANESE DRIVER ARE REPORTED TO HAVE GONE MISSING CARS PASSING BY SIGN CARS TRAVELLING ALONG ROAD FLANKED BY TREES CARS LEAVING PASSING THROUGH ARMY CHECKPOINT
  • Embargoed: 2nd August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Lebanon
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAD1C5KD0B1N4QH63TQRUV5HT33
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Five Czechs and their Lebanese driver are missing in Lebanon, a spokeswoman for the Czech foreign ministry said on Saturday (July 18).
    Lebanese media and a security source had reported earlier on Saturday that five Czech nationals had gone missing when their abandoned vehicle was found near Kefraya in eastern Lebanon, a popular destination for tourists in the wine-producing area.
    Passports, money and cameras were found inside the Lebanon-registered vehicle in the West Bekaa region and security services launched an investigation. Kefraya lies east of the capital Beirut and west of the country's border with Syria.
    The Czech foreign ministry knows the identities of the missing Czechs, but it would not publish that information as it may jeopardise the investigation, Michaela Lagronova of the ministry told reporters.
    She added that Czech Foreign Minister, Lubomir Zaoralek, will be in telephone contact with his Lebanese counterpart later on Saturday. Some Lebanese media speculated that the incident could be related to the imprisonment of a Lebanese national in the Czech Republic. Reuters was not able to confirm this.
    It is not the first time foreigners have gone missing in eastern Lebanon. Seven Estonians riding bicycles in the Bekaa Valley were kidnapped by masked gunmen in 2011 and released after four months.
    Earlier that year two Polish tourists were briefly captured in the Bekaa Valley but freed after security forces opened fire on their captors at a checkpoint.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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