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Group of tourists, including nine Russians, detained in Chad

The reasons for their detention have not been announced for nearly a week

NOVOSIBIRSK, June 22. /TASS/. A group of tourists detained in the African Republic of Chad consists of 10 people, including nine Russians and one Lithuanian national.

Their documents, car keys and all electronic devices have been seized. The reasons for their detention have not been announced for nearly a week, one of the tourists, administrator of Novosibirsk’s Ast-54 community in VK social network Vitaly Polischuk told TASS.

Earlier, Ast-54 posted information on its page that during a three-week-long car trip across Chad Russian tourists, including Polischuk, were detained by local law enforcement officers in the city of Faya-Largeau. Later they were taken by a plane to the republic’s capital of N'Djamena, and were forced to leave cars and most of their stuff and equipment. At the moment, the tourists have been at a hotel for nearly a week.

"They have seized our documents, car keys, cellphones, photo and video cameras, GPS-trackers, laptops and tablet PCs. Even tourist head torches and simple electronic scales for luggage have been seized. They cited an order from N'Djamena and put us on the plane," Polischuk said.

He explained that the tourists were traveling across Chad as part of a project "Mir Nash" (Our World), which was launched in 2015 by a Novosibirsk filmmaker and traveler Alexei Kamerzanov.

The expedition members arrived in Chad from the neighboring Cameroon and are in the country on legal grounds.