25 abducted Chinese workers freed in Egypt

 A group of 25 Chinese workers abducted in the north of Egypt’s Sinai peninsula were freed on Wednesday while the fate of 29 others held by rebels in Sudan remained uncertain.

The abductions highlights the dangers facing China’s workers as Beijing pushes to invest in volatile regions.

Egyptian locals have freed the 25 Chinese workers held by local tribesmen in Arish, North Sinai, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The Chinese workers were in good condition, Ma Jianchun, commercial affairs counsellor of the embassy told Xinhua.

They were freed after being held for about 15 hours.

One of the workers who had been held for 15 hours, a 25-year-old man with the surname Pan, said the group had communicated with Chinese diplomats via mobile phone text messages.

“We were worried and nervous after being held by the locals. However, the Chinese embassy kept contact with us through cell phone text messages and was making efforts to rescue us, which made us feel relieved a lot,” Pan said.

Pan said they did not suffer any physical harm or loss of personal property in the process.

The Chinese workers in Egypt were held on Tuesday by local Bedouins in Arish while travelling on a bus to a cement plant. The locals have been blocking the road for several days, demanding the release of their five relatives detained by Egyptian authorities because of their suspected involvement in attacks in South Sinai between 2004 and 2006, which left dozens dead.