The final member of the NBC News crew that was working in Turkey and Syria with chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel has safely left Syria. The announcement came Wednesday from NBC News. Ian Rivers, a member of the NBC News technical staff, became separated from Engel’s production team in the midst of a fire-fight early Tuesday that resulted in Engel and producer Ghazi Balkiz and cameraman John Kooistra escaping from captivity. Rivers is in good condition and will be evaluated in Turkey. NBC News would not elaborate on how Rivers escaped from Syria. Video: Richard Engel and Crew on
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- 12/19/2012
- by Marisa Guthrie
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel and his crew have been freed after being held for five days inside Syria, NBC News said. The team is now safe in Turkey, and Engel -- as well as producer Ghazi Balkiz and camera man John Kooistra -- described the ordeal on "Today" on Tuesday morning. Engel said the group were traveling with Syrian rebels in what they believed was a rebel-controlled area Thursday morning when they were stopped and taken captive by kidnappers. "A group of gunman just literally jumped out of the...
- 12/18/2012
- by Tim Molloy
- The Wrap
Five days after being kidnapped, Richard Engel and his team were freed from their Syrian captors, NBC News announced Tuesday morning. The NBC News chief foreign correspondent, who was abducted along with cameraman John Kooistra and producer Ghazi Balkiz, were physically unharmed. "We weren't physically beaten or tortured—it was a lot of psychological torture," Engel said on the Today show. "[There were] threats of being killed. They made us choose which one of us would be shot first, and when we refused there were mock shootings." Engel, 39, and his team disappeared Thursday after crossing into northwest Syria from Turkey. To protect their safety, NBC News requested a news blackout...
- 12/18/2012
- E! Online
Richard Engel, chief foreign correspondent for NBC News, and two of his crewmembers escaped Monday after they were kidnapped, psychologically tortured and held in captivity for five days inside Syria, Engel - standing with his two colleagues in Antakya, Turkey - said in a live broadcast on Tuesday's Today show. "It is good to be here," said Engel, looking fit and sounding erudite as ever. "I'm very happy that we're able to do this live shot this morning." Engel, 39, was with producer Ghazi Balkiz and cameraman John Kooistra to report on the insurgency that is fighting President Bashar al-Assad in the troubled country.
- 12/18/2012
- by Stephen M. Silverman
- PEOPLE.com
NBC News' chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel and two crew members that were taken hostage for five days inside war-torn Syria spoke live on the Today Show Tuesday following their release. Along with NBC producer Ghazi Balkiz and cameraman John Kooistra, Engel was ambushed by 15 masked gunmen shortly after entering Syria with rebels fighting against President Bashar al-Assad, a brutal leader who has been trying put down an uprising since 2011. They were blindfolded and bound. "We weren't physically beaten or tortured. It was a lot of psychological torture, threats of being killed," Engel said, appearing
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- 12/18/2012
- by Jordan Zakarin
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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