Pastor Josh Sullivan, an American citizen abducted by gunmen in South Africa last week in front of his congregation, was rescued by police on Tuesday following a shootout between rescuers and his kidnappers, police said.
Three of the abductors were killed in the gunfire, authorities said. They began firing while trying to flee the scene by car.
"The officers responded with tactical precision, leading to a high-intensity shootout in which three unidentified suspects were fatally wounded," South Africa's elite police unit’s spokesperson Avele Fumba said.
What was the motive behind the abduction?
Sullivan was rescued from a house in KwaMagxaki, Gqeberha - only 20 minutes’ drive from the Baptist church where he was abducted from.
While investigations are ongoing, BBC News reported that the gunmen had asked for a ransom for the safe return of the Tennessee-born pastor.
Sullivan moved to South Africa in 2018 with his family to establish a church for Xhosa-speaking people.