Final Member of Kidnapped NBC News Team Safely Escapes Syria

By: Dec. 19, 2012
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Ian Rivers, NBC News technical support staff, has left Syria, NBC announced today.

He got separated from the rest of Richard Engel's production team in the midst of the firefight which resulted in the NBC team's escape from captivity. Until now, Rivers' whereabouts in Syria have been unknown.

Rivers is said to be in good condition and will be evaluated in Turkey.

NBC News President Steve Capus released a statement, saying: "Now that Ian Rivers has been reunited with Richard Engel's entire production team, all of us at NBC News can breathe a huge sigh of relief and express our deep appreciation to all who helped secure their freedom. At the same time, our thoughts and concerns are with those who remain missing inside Syria and we hope for their swift and safe release."

Yesterday, it was announced that NBC News' Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel and two of his crew members had been kidnapped last week, and held for five days before they escaped an unnamed group and were returned to the United States.

Engel appeared on the Today Show yesterday morning, and said, "We weren't physically beaten or tortured. It was a lot of psychological torture, threats of being killed," Engel said, appearing to be in relatively good spirits. "They made us choose which one of us would be shot first and when we refused there were mock shootings. They pretended to shoot Ghazi several times. And when you're blindfolded and they fire the gun up in the air, it can be a very traumatic experience."


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