MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chile: German tank trainers attacked

Five youths are accused of attacking nine German soldiers and taking them hostage in this Chilean port city, police said.

Police Col. Rolf Reiman said none of the German soldiers was seriously wounded and that five suspects between 14 to 20 were arrested. The soldiers were threatened and tied up in the house where they were staying early Friday, authorities said. One of Germans eventually managed to escape and alerted a police officer guarding the neighboring residence of regional police commander Gen. Eleazar Solar, the Santiago daily El Mercurio reported Saturday. Police quickly surrounded the house and arrested four suspects after a shootout. A fifth fled, but was shot in the leg by police and also arrested, according to Reiman. In Berlin, the German army confirmed the incident, which occurred at around 2 a.m Friday. Reiman said it was not immediately clear why the youth had attacked the Germans, "but apparently they knew they were foreigners and assumed (they) had money." Regional prosecutor Francisco Almazan said charges against the five will be filed on Monday. Deputy Defense Minister Gonzalo Garcia called the attack "a common crime incident." The German soldiers were in Iquique to train their Chilean counterparts in operating tanks recently purchased by Chile.