Tourists robbed on Peru's Inca trail

Eight Britons were among 13 tourists robbed by armed assailants wearing ski masks as they camped on Peru’s famed Inca Trail, authorities said today.

The robbers, dressed in dark clothing, entered the tents of the tourists and tied up 21 porters during the incident shortly before midnight on Monday, said Antonio Terrazas, spokesman for Peru’s National Institute of Culture.

He said that no tourists were harmed.

Petty theft of cameras and hiking boots from tents is common on the trail, but Terrazas said, “This is first time that something of this nature has occurred.”

He said the victims continued on their hike to Machu Picchu, Peru’s biggest tourist attraction, high in the Andes.

The group was camping at kilometre 82 of the Inca Trail, near the town of Ollantaytambo, about 335 miles south-east of the capital, Lima.

A tourism police spokesman said the victims included eight citizens from Britain, two each from Canada and India and one South African.

He said the robbers made off with cash, cameras and mobile phones.