British backpackers held at gunpoint by robbers shouting ‘just kill them’ on their bus in Peru

Terrified British backpackers were held at gunpoint by six masked robbers who stormed their tour bus on a remote trail in the Amazon jungle.

Adella Clarke, 28, said the men started yelling, ‘Just kill them,’ when one female passenger resisted handing over her belongings in Peru last Sunday.

Ms Clarke was with three friends, who were on a tour bus of 22 passengers travelling to a rural lodge, when the driver slammed the brakes on the dirt road. 

‘The bus doors opened and a man in a balaclava came on board. There were six of them stood in the middle of the dirt road pointing guns at the bus,’ Ms Clarke said.

Adella Clarke, 28, was with three friends on the tour bus on a remote trail in the Peruvian Amazon when six men in balaclavas held them up at gunpoint last Sunday

She said the driver was urged to drive away, but the tour guide objected in fear that the attackers would shoot if he did, Ms Clarke added.

She continued: ‘They were each taking it in turns to come on the bus and grab bags. Our tour guide said “Just give them what they want. Don’t resist”.

‘I had a gun in my face while my friend was having his wallet taken out of his pocket. My other friend had a gun pointed to his head while the bag under him got taken.

‘A lady resisted and the tour guide later on said they were shouting “Just kill them, just kill them”.’

The ordeal lasted about seven minutes, she says.

‘They eventually ran off into the jungle. Everyone was shook up, They were firing shots at locals who tried to help,’ Ms Clarke continued.

The bus was then driven on to a village where they phoned police.

Ms Clarke said: ‘We were just waiting in another remote village thinking “are they going to come back”, like sitting ducks. That was the worst bit.’

She said the group were ‘escorted back to the main town by police who gave little interest’ and have since been transferred to the capital Lima, ‘seriously shaken’.

Ms Clarke at Machu Picchu in the Andes Mountains in Peru, she said the armed men were yelling ‘just kill them’ when her tour group were robbed

She praised the response from their travel company G Adventures, saying: ‘The assistance has been very good.

‘They’ve put us up in a nice hotel, they’ve been great about it… provided us with stuff to do and checked in on us.’

And despite the ordeal, the group intend to continue with their trip – travelling to Bolivia on Wednesday, and then on to Argentina later in the month.

But she said: ‘We’re not getting buses anymore. This is too much of a shock so we’re going to fly everywhere from now on.

‘We did it the right way, through a tour company, to avoid dangers like this but it still happened.’  

The attack took place on Sunday at around 3pm local time.

Ms Clarke, is now in Bolivia with Glenn Williamson, Lee Scutcher and James Lott, from Ipswich, Suffolk, was in her first week of a month-long trip through South America.