Algeria: FCO updates advice as number of missing tourists rises
German police say at least 29 foreign tourists have disappeared in the Sahara desert in the space of just six weeks.
As reported by News From Abroad, a group of 11 European tourists “vanished” while undertaking a trip through the Sahara Desert in Algeria at the end of March – and since then, travellers have been going missing at regular intervals with various groups disappearing after travelling in a desolate region of southern Algeria.
Helicopters equipped with heat-seeking devices have failed to find any sign of the travellers, while there are group, which was travelling through a massive wilderness area in the increasing concerns that their fate may be linked to bands of sometimes-violent smuggling gangs that are known to operate in the area. The missing include 16 Germans, eight Austrians, four Swiss and a Dutch national.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office warns of travel to Algeria and now tells of the dangers of visiting the southern part of the country. Its website, at www.fco.gov.uk/travel, reads: “We advise against all holiday and other non-essential travel to Algeria. The security situation in northern Algeria remains serious, especially outside the main cities. We strongly advise against all travel to the desert and mountainous areas of the south east, because of the unexplained disappearance of at least 29 foreign tourists.”
