Russian Tourists Detained In Chad Say Local Foreign Ministry Apologized For Incident

NOVOSIBIRSK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd June, 2021) Russian tourists detained in Chad told Sputnik on Tuesday that they were still being held in a hotel and deprived of documents, a car and all electronic devices, despite the fact that the African country's foreign ministry offered an apology to the Russian embassy in N'Djamena.

On Monday, a group of 10 travelers from Russia, who arrived in Chad as part of a road-trip, said that it was detained in the republic's north and transported to the capital. There is one Lithuanian citizen in the group; the rest are Russians.

"We are still in the hotel. The [Russian] Embassy received an apology from Chad, but nothing else has changed," Alexei Kamerzanov, one of the travelers and Russian filmmaker and video blogger, told Sputnik.

The travelers noted that the hotel is excellent and they are being treated very well.

"Charge d'Affaires of Russia in Chad Sergei Kramarenko said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chad offered an official apology for what happened to the group," another member of the group, Vitaly Polischuk, wrote on VK social network.

The group is now waiting for actions from the African country's authorities that has pledged to return their documents and other belongings seized during the detention soon, he added.

The group arrived in Chad for a trip which was expected to last three weeks, along a route previously agreed upon with the country's Ministry of Internal Affairs, which included the north, considered a rather dangerous region. The travelers were detained by people in military and police uniform after they had covered some 80% of their route.