BOGOTA, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- Colombian police were searching for the five hostages allegedly freed late Tuesday by the rebel National Liberation Army (ELN).
The ELN, Colombia's second largest rebel group, announced on its website that it had freed two Peruvians and three Colombians after keeping them as hostages since January.
Police chief of Colombia's northern department of Bolivar, Jorge Octavio Vargas, said they started search overnight and would continue the operation till the five people were found.
Asked about the fate of Canadian citizen Jernoc Wobert, who was also abducted by the ELN along with the five hostages, Vargas said: "We will find him soon, because the idea is for the six of them to be able to return to their homes."
The captives were seized on Jan. 18 at a mining camp by the ELN, which has about 2,500 members operating in northeastern Colombia.
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