Kidnapping of tourists in Guatemala
On Tuesday the 16th of September 2014 my boyfriend and I, along with 8 other tourists, our driver and guide were kidnapped, robbed, tied up, indecently assaulted and raped in Guatemala.
My boyfriend and I are finishing a year long holiday which took us backpacking overland from Singapore to London and then to Central America.
I always keep myself up to date with travel warnings and the best routes to take. Shuttles in Central America have felt convenient, reliable and safe. I even read in Lonely Planet that highway robberies are seeming to be a thing of the past. We were aware that Guatemala is not the safest place in the world BUT travel warnings were not disimilar to many other countries we visited.
We had booked a shuttle from Guatemala's Antigua to Lanquin. It was meant to leave Antigua at 2pm and arrive at Lanquin early in the night. Our shuttle was delayed and we did not leave until 1 hour after scheduled time. About 2 hours into the journey we were pulled over by the police. They inspected our driver's papers and asked him where we were all from. They seemed particularly interested in checking out the tourists in the shuttle. About an hour later we stopped at a fuel station for dinner. We were told it would be a half hour stop, we left 50 minutes later. It was 6.45pm, it was now dark.
At 7pm a pick up truck full of men shouting at us with guns tried to run us off the road. Our driver pulled over. A man got into the drivers seat, others climbed into the back with us whilst threatening the driver and front passengers with their guns. They turned the van around and drove us back in the direction we had already come. They took a turn onto a dirt road which we drove up for about 5 minutes. Through our Spanish/English speaking guide the men told us they were the police and that they need to check our passports. Later, our guide said they also asked him in Spanish, 'remember us when we pulled you over?' The men told us to do as they ask and no one will get hurt. One-by-one we were taken out of the van. The males first, then the females. We were all robbed of our jewellery and wallets, indecently assaulted and searched. The males were tied up in a line on their stomachs with their hands behind their backs. The females were sitting with their hands tied behind their backs.
The armed men began to search through our belongings on the van. They demanded passwords for phones, laptops and tablets. Whilst this was happening, some of the men began sexually assaulting all of the females. It was like they were inspecting us. One of the men raped a woman right next to me. One woman was digitally raped. They took another woman away from the group to rape her. I was so scared. I thought I was next. I decided if I cough and sound sick they would not chose me. They did not rape me. I was lucky.
After they had gone through all our belongings in the van and finished raping the women they left on foot. They told us we could not leave until midnight. They said not to turn on any lights or there would be trouble.
Finally we all built up the courage to untie each other and begin talking. We were all too scared to leave and too scared to call the police. The keys to our van were missing. One hour later my boyfriend and a fellow tourist decided to walk to the highway which we knew was not far. My boyfriend said he ran to the road and tried to flag down a vehicle. A vehicle slowed. As it drove around him and the other tourist they noticed it was a police car. The police car did NOT stop.
Finally the driver found the van keys and the rest of us were able to leave. We found my boyfriend and the other tourist at the main road. We decided to drive to Coban where we could take the girls who were raped to a hospital.
When we arrived at the hospital we were able to go through our remaining belongings. We found all our passports and bank cards. The men had taken anything else of value.
After the hospital, half of the tourists decided to stay in Coban the other half proceeded to Lanquin with another driver.
Since this incident we have learnt a very similar one happened in the same area around noon 12 months ago.
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