950806

Five Americans

kidnapped in

Tanzania

NAIROBI: Five American tourists have been kidnapped at a remote game reserve in northwest Tanzania, Tanzanian officials said on Sunday.

They said the five -- two women, two girls and a man -- were kidnapped by thugs armed with two guns and taken to an unknown destination. A sixth American escaped unharmed.

The gang had made no contact since snatching the Americans on Saturday and it was not known whether they wanted a ransom.

The US embassy in the Tanzanian capital issued a statement late on Saturday urging anyone with information about the kidnapping in Nkumi, 250 km from Dar Es Salaam, to report to the nearest police station, the officials said.

The officials spoke to Reuters in Kenya by phone from Dar Es Salaam.

Neither the Tanzanian officials nor the embassy would reveal the identities of the missing Americans.-Reuter