Fifteen Israeli professionals were taken hostage this week by Chinese laborers on the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean Sea. The Foreign Ministry said Thursday it were working to ensure that the professionals, who have been in captivity for three days, would be released soon.
The captives are all managers and engineers employed by the real estate company, Ashtroom. They were taken hostage by Chinese laborers who had been working for them on the island.
The kidnappers are demanding payment promised to them by their employers. They claim that they have not yet been paid for their work because the bank funding their project collapsed. The Foreign Ministry said it was receiving constant updates and hoped the crisis would be over within hours.
The small island on which the professionals were taken hostage is relatively isolated and can be reached only by boat. The hostages said their captors have blocked off the marina, in effect neutralizing the only entry point on the island.
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An Israeli working in the area told Ynet that the Israelis were taken hostage after the project was canceled, due to bank collapse. The Chinese workers, who were informed they would be deported, are holding the Israelis for ransom. |