The five Chinese telecom workers who were held hostage for almost two weeks in the southern Nigerian state of Rivers returned to their home province of Sichuan on Monday evening.

The workers arrived at 8:10 p.m. at Shuangliu Airport in Chengdu, capital of the southwestern province of China.

Their families were at the airport to welcome them.

All five are from Sichuan. Two are interpreters from Chengdu and three are technicians from the cities of Meishan and Neijiang, according to the provincial commerce department.

They were kidnapped on Jan. 5 by gunmen from their residence in Rumuakunde Emouha, a village about 35 km from Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers.

After 13 days of intense work by a team including Chinese embassy staff and staff from China's Sichuan Telecommunication Company, which employed the workers, the five were released on Jan. 17.

Source: Xinhua