A New Zealand pilot has been freed from captivity after being abducted early last year upon landing at a remote Indonesian airport, where separatist rebels set his small plane on fire.
Phillip Mehrtens, a 38-year-old working for Indonesian aviation company Susi Air at the time of his abduction in Papua on Feb. 7, 2023, told reporters on Saturday, “Today I finally got out. … I am so happy to be back home with my family soon.”
“Thank you to everyone who helped me get out safely and healthy,” Mehrtens added during a news conference in the mining town of Timika, which is located west of the remote airstrip in Paro where he had been taken captive.
Television news earlier showed an emaciated, long-haired Mehrtens, wearing a dark-green shirt and black shorts, sitting in a room surrounded by police officers and local officials, according to The Associated Press. He sobbed while talking to his family via video and …