Three oil workers who were reportedly kidnapped last month in the northern Colombian department of Santander were released Thursday, Colombian media reported.
Jose Antonio Diaz, Johan Rojas and Eduardo Albao had been in captivity for 35 days when family members received a call from an unknown individual who said that the men had been released near the town of Yondo, in the Antioquia department.
According to Caracol Radio, authorities “do not know exactly what health and physical conditions the three people are in, and under what conditions the release occurred.”
The freed workers have been sent to Barrancabermeja, where they are receiving medical treatment.
The three men, all employees of state-run oil company Ecopetrol, were kidnapped in a rural area between the towns of Puerto Wilches and Barrancabermeja on August 17.
The kidnappers were reportedly demanding over $30,000 from the workers’ employer for their release. Whether the oil company paid the ransom is currently unknown.
