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Three arrested after Britons robbed by armed gang
Police in St Lucia have arrested three people suspected of carrying out an armed robbery of 55 cruise ship passengers, including 10 Britons, as they stepped off a bus to go sightseeing in Soufrière.
A spokesperson for the St Lucia tourist board said the robbery, which happened last Friday, was "rare" on the Caribbean island.
Authorities believe four men were involved in the robbery at Soufriere Botanical Gardens, during which a tour bus was held up and valuables taken from passengers who were voyaging round the Caribbean on Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Eclipse.
A police statement said: "The men systematically searched the guests as well as their belongings. The masked men robbed them of monies, jewellery, cameras and cell phones and escaped in the nearby bushes. Apart from the trauma of the incident, none of the passengers robbed were injured."
Two crew members from the cruise ship were also on the bus along with passengers.
St Lucia Tourist Board chairman Matthew Beaubrun told local broadcaster DBS: "This is a rare incident. This is such an important industry for us that we need to respond. We have taken it very seriously at the highest level."
Celebrity Eclipse is on a 14-night Caribbean cruise that departed Fort Lauderdale in Florida on April 6.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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