KAMPALA (Reuters) - An American woman and her driver have been kidnapped at Uganda’s most popular wildlife park by gunmen demanding a ransom of $500,000, police said on Wednesday.Kimberley Sue Endecott, 35, and Ugandan driver Jean Paul were on a game drive in Queen Elizabeth National Park when four gunmen ambushed their vehicle on Tuesday evening, a police statement said.
Various illegal groups from Somali Islamists to Congolese-based rebels sometimes operate in Uganda, but the kidnappers’ identity was not known.
An elderly couple also at the scene were not taken and raised the alarm.
"I suspect the kidnappers left them because they were elderly. They took all their possessions," said Ugandan government spokesman Ofwono Opondo.
Califonia-based Endecott and the couple, whose relationship was unclear, entered Uganda on March 29 and flew the next day to the park in the country’s southwest, the spokesman added.