Kidnapped workers walk free in Peru

Thirty-six kidnapped construction workers walked out of the Peruvian jungle on Saturday after being released by Shining Path rebels who abducted them five days earlier from a town near the country's main natural gas fields.

President Ollanta Humala said the guerrillas freed the captives as troops and police were closing in.

"Seeing themselves surrounded, they released the 36 hostages," Mr Humala said, adding that the security forces would continue to hunt for the kidnappers.

AP