Ecuador hostages

As efforts continue in Ecuador to track down a gang of kidnappers in the north of the country, seven oil workers they released on Thursday have been giving details of their ordeal.

Speaking on Ecuadorean television, the former hostages -- from the United States, New Zealand, Chile and Argentina -- said they lived in constant fear for their lives during their captivity.

They described forced marches through the jungle every day and a diet of rats and snakes.

They said their captors were highly-organised, with sophisticated equipment to detect human movement and heavy artillery.

The hostages were released after payment of a thirteen-million-dollar ransom. Experts in kidnapping have criticised the decision to pay the ransom, saying it will only encourage further hostage-taking.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

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