Polish doctor ‘safe and sound’ after being freed from kidnappers in Chad

A Polish doctor kidnapped in Chad has been freed and is “safe and sound,” Poland’s foreign minister said Tuesday.

The woman had been volunteering at the Saint-Michel Hospital in the Central African nation’s Tandjile region, where kidnappings for ransom are common. Attackers pretending to be patients abducted her and a Mexican doctor, private Polish broadcaster Polsat News reported.

The other doctor escaped during an altercation between the abductors and Chad’s security forces, while the Polish woman was taken away, a fellow doctor told The Associated Press. Chadian and French forces launched a search for her.

Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski posted a video on social media in which he informed the woman’s family of her release. He said she was getting a medical evaluation and would return soon to Poland.

“I would like to thank the local forces and our French allies for their actions,” the minister added.