British backpacker escapes tribe in Papua New Guinea
A backpacking couple feared they could be eaten by cannibals after they were captured by a tribe while trekking in Papua New Guinea.
A 31 tourist from London and his American girlfriend say they were confronted by a gang who tied them up, stripped them naked and beat them.
They finally managed to escape while the tribesmen were marching them through the jungle, and ran naked back to safety, reports the Sun.
The Foreign Office is helping the Papua New Guinea authorities find the tribesmen responsible.
A Foreign Office spokesman told the Telegraph: “We are providing support to a British national and their partner who both suffered injuries and were taken to hospital following an incident in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, on 11 January.”
The couple originally flew to Papua New Guinea’s capital Port Moresby to start a 60-mile hike along the Kokoda Trail.
They met a host of welcoming villagers and spent every night sleeping in the open after foraging for their food but on the final day of their trip, they were confronted by two tribesmen armed with machetes, followed by several other natives.
The Londoner, who was on reality TV show Shipwrecked in 2008, said: “They looked very scary in native costumes and what looked like war paint and came closer before circling around us. They tore up my T-shirt to blindfold me and the awful thought crossed my mind that we could be on the menu.”
The island of New Guinea is believed to be one of the world’s last outposts of cannibalism, with the most recent known case dating to 2012.
A Foreign Office spokesman told the Telegraph: “”We are providing support to a British national and their partner who both suffered injuries and were taken to hospital following an incident in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, on 11 January.”
Diane
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