British families going on a holiday at the Anastacia Beach Complex in Cyprus have been alarmed by claims that three children were allegedly being taken by abductors disguised as waiters.
A witness claimed a gang of kidnappers, allegedly Romanians, had tried luring the children inside a car, but was stopped when they were spotted by guests.
"This Romanian couple were leading the two young children towards a waiting car, another person had a third child up against a wall ready to go, too," said Greg Letford, who had been at the hotel for a wedding, according to Daily Record. "Someone spotted what they were up to and stopped them. If he hadn't been there those kids would have been gone. One of the men got away and we heard the getaway car crashed a short distance away too."
However, police released the main suspect they had in custody following the incident because nothing was found on his phone. The authorities also searched his house, but found no evidence linking him to the allegations, according to another Daily Mail story.
Anastacia Beach Complex's operators released a statement on the child abduction allegations.
"According to police investigation the claims of child abduction are completely unjustifiable and invalid as nothing was found to suggest that the person involved intended to carry out such an act," said Yiannos Michaelides, the hotel's manager Thursday, via ITV.
Witnesses claimed the abductors used cell phones to film the children as they played and swam at the hotel's pool. One man said that he saw footage of his kids on the phone, according to Daily Mail.
Upon learning of the incident, tour operator Thomas Cook immediately issued a statement saying that they have moved its customers to another hotel. They received 16 requests for transfers. At least half of the guests at the hotel were serviced by Thomas Cook, according to BBC.
