Freed British hostage returns from Colombia

Freed British hostage Mr Mark Henderson finally made it home for Christmas today.

Freed British hostage Mr Mark Henderson finally made it home for Christmas today.

Mr Henderson (32) flew in from Colombia where he was kidnapped by guerrillas while on a backpacking trip and spent 102 days captive in remote mountain jungles.

After months of tension and worry he was finally released earlier this week.

Today he enjoyed a reunion with his parents, Christopher and Sharelle at Heathrow Airport, London, before facing a press conference to speak of his ordeal.

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Mr Henderson, a television producer living in Clapham, south London, has confessed to being, "at breaking point" shortly before his kidnappers agreed to release him, along with four other Israeli hostages, in time for Christmas.

He has lost two stone surviving on rations doled out by his captors while living in hide-outs and marching hundreds of miles through mosquito-infested jungle to evade the Colombian Army pursuing their kidnappers, the Marxist rebel group ELN.

Mr Henderson, fellow Briton Mr Matthew Scott (19) a German, a Spaniard and four Israelis were first taken captive by ELN Marxist rebels on September 12th.

They were part of a larger group of 15 tourists travelling to the 2,500-year-old Ciudad Perdida 'Lost City' ruins.

Mr Scott, an Oxford University student from Clapham, south London, made a daring escape bid 11 days later.

He leapt into a ravine as the hostages were force-marched through the jungle and was picked up by the Colombian army after 12 days.