Seven oil workers taken hostage by gunmen in a pre-dawn raid on a Chinese-run oilfield in Ethiopia last week were expected to return to the mainland today, the International Committee of the Red Cross said yesterday.
The seven were released by their kidnappers on Sunday.
They were seized in an attack by gunmen from the separatist Ogaden National Liberation Front on April 24, when the gunmen also killed nine Chinese nationals and 65 Ethiopians.
Hu Xiangqun , a Red Cross spokeswoman in Beijing for Northeast Asia, said the workers left Addis Ababa yesterday.
'They are scheduled to go home with the special working team,' Ms Hu said, referring to the taskforce set up by Zhongyuan Petroleum Bureau, a subsidiary of the China Petroleum and Chemical Corp (Sinopec), to handle the aftermath of the attack.
'I don't know their detailed route because it is being handled by the oil company's working team.'
