At least 23 oil workers have been kidnapped in Colombia after three gunmen raided the camp were they were housed.
The men, all local employees of the Canadian firm Talisman Energy, were abducted on Monday in the town of Guerima, 370 miles (600 miles) east of Bogotá, according to a spokesman for the company.
“Twenty-three people working for one of our subcontractors have been kidnapped,” Tomas Rueda told RCN radio. “We are monitoring the information closely.”
Juan Carlos Avila, governor of the Vichada department where the kidnappings took place, told Radio Caracol that “three men burst into the camp” and “forced the people to follow them”. The air force had launched a search in the region, he said.
Front 16, of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) rebels and criminal gangs, are known to operate in this region, he said.
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Officials were focusing on the possibility of a Farc retaliation for an unsuccessful extortion attempt, a source close to the investigation told AFP.
It was the first mass kidnapping since President Santos, a former defence minister, came to power in August.
Last year 282 people were kidnapped in Colombia - a 32 per cent increase compared to the previous year, according to official figures.
The Calgary-based oil and gas company’s main operating areas are North America, the North Sea and Southeast Asia, according to its website. It is working with Ecopetrol in Colombia.