Around 200 Colombian soldiers are searching mountains in the country's northern Antioquia province for holidaymakers taken hostage on Friday. Police have blamed the Farc rebel group for the kidnap of at least seven people from a spa near the town of San Rafael. No demands for the release of the group have yet been reported.
The Colombian government had tried to convince fearful citizens to holiday at home this year. The government cancelled police leave and promised to put 120,000 security personnel on the ground.
"At the moment, troops are deactivating a field of antipersonnel landmines and continuing operations to find the hostage-takers," said the deputy provincial governor Jorge Mejia, according to BBC.
The security services have an extensive area to search and the police has complained that they were not informed of the kidnapping until Saturday morning - significantly delaying their response.
