巴西警方解救被绑架的意大利人质

 　　巴西警方解救被绑架的意大利人质

　　RIO DE JANEIRO, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian police rescued in the early hours of Wednesday an Italian teenage girl who was kidnapped four days ago in the seaside resort of Arraial do Cabo in Rio de Janeiro state.

　　The 15-year-old victim, whose name was not disclosed because she is a minor¹, had been living in Brazil for only five months when she and her father, Italian businessman Ettore Casteluzzo, were snatched Saturday from their home.

　　Casteluzzo was soon released, but kidnappers³ held on to the girl, who spent four days tied up in the basement of a rented house in a middle class neighborhood of Cabo Frio, a town close to Arraial do Cabo, officials said.

　　Video footage on Brazil's G1 news website showed a police helicopter landing in Rio de Janeiro with the rescued girl, who was then escorted to police vans nearby to be reunited with her father. The girl was covered with a blanket, revealing only her flip-flop clad feet.

　　The kidnappers were demanding a ransom⁴ of 720,000 reals (300, 000 U.S. dollars), but police succeeded in rescuing the girl before the money was handed over.

　　Police located the kidnappers by tracing the calls they were making to the father.

　　During the rescue operation, shots were fired and two of the kidnappers, identified as Edson de Souza and Osmar Barbosa, were killed, police said.

　　Each of those men had five prior kidnapping charges, said the police. A third kidnapper², identified as Rodrigo Rodrigues da Silva, escaped.

1 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

2 kidnapper   

n.绑架者，拐骗者

参考例句：

• The kidnapper was shot dead then and there by the armed policeman.绑架者被武装警察当时当地击毙。
• The kidnapper strangled the child with a piece of string.绑票的人用一根绳子把这孩子勒死了。

3 kidnappers   

n.拐子，绑匪( kidnapper的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They were freed yesterday by their kidnappers unharmed. 他们昨天被绑架者释放了，没有受到伤害。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The kidnappers had threatened to behead all four unless their jailed comrades were released. 帮匪们曾经威胁说如果印度方面不释放他们的同伙，他们就要将这四名人质全部斩首。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。