Britons kidnapped at gorilla sanctuary

RANGER WITH TOURISTS KILLED

TWO British citizens have been kidnapped in the Democratic Republic of Congo, sources have said.

The pair are understood to have been taken while visiting the Virunga National Park, a renowned gorilla sanctuary in the east of the African country, yesterday.

A female park ranger travelling with the pair was killed.

The park has seen rising violence in recent months as armed groups stage raids to steal resources, particularly charcoal.

Last month five young rangers and a driver were killed in a militia ambush, the park said.

It was the deadliest attack in recent years and took the total number of rangers killed to 175. Virunga is a Unesco world heritage site, covering 3,000 square miles on the Democratic Republic of Congo’s border with Uganda and Rwanda.

Founded in 1925, it is home to around a quarter of the world’s critically endangered mountain gorillas and other endangered species as well as lions, elephants, hippos and a rare bird species.

Last year, a fifth of the park’s southern sector was deforested owing to illegal charcoal production, the park said.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are in close contact with the authorities in Democratic Republic of the Congo and our staff are providing support to their families.”