4 freed hostages taken on Oct. 7 report torture, starvation; Mengistu barely communicating

22 February 2025, 9:51 pm 1 Edit

Freed hostage Avera Mengistu, who was released today after more than a decade in captivity, is in bad shape and barely communicating, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

This is despite Mengistu appearing at first glance to be in good physical shape. His family is now supporting him.

Kan also reports that the four hostages kidnapped on October 7, 2023, and released today have reported “torture, physical violence, psychological torment and extreme starving” throughout their 16 months in captivity.

The report says hostage Omer Wenkert lost around 30 kilograms in captivity before terrorist captors fattened him up ahead of his release.

Wenkert’s first request was reportedly for a cigarette, saying: “I’ve waited 500 days for this cigarette.”