Alan Pulido has been rescued in Mexico.
There are contrasting stories of how the footballer managed to gain freedom. Mexican authorities claim a major security operation freed Pulido, but a report from ABC News claims the footballer gained freedom after fighting one of his captors.
The report details how the Olympiakos striker seized an opportunity to gain freedom after finding himself alone with one of the kidnappers. Pulido overpowered the man and took away his pistol and his phone before dialing Mexico’s emergency number.
REPORTS: Armed masked men kindap Olympiakos striker Alan Pulido in Mexico https://t.co/hfQfZz6TjH
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) May 29, 2016
Pulido made three calls to the emergency number.
During the first one, he looked out the window and described the building he was being held captive in.
In the next call, he explained that the police had arrived at the building. The operator told him to shoot the gun to alert the cops that they had arrived at the correct location, but there were no bullets left.
In the meantime, the police had opened fire, so Pulido described what he was wearing so that he wouldn’t be confused as a kidnapper. He later made a third call to confirm that the police had arrived on the scene were legitimate.
#AlanPulido was not rescued, he grabbed a cell phone and called for help@WallaceIsabel @nytimes @espn @Newsweek pic.twitter.com/yPBMHOlVbk
— Alto al Secuestro (@altoalsecuestro) May 30, 2016
Ismael Quintanilla of the Tamaulipas Security Coordination Group corroborated a different version of events in a press conference on Monday. He claimed that Pulido escaped because of the “carelessness” of the kidnappers.
The official told Radio Imagen that Pulido had been tied up in the building, but had managed to wiggle himself free while his captors weren’t looking. Quintanilla said that he then grabbed the phone of the man who was in charge of observing him.
“Blows were exchanged, and he made the phone call,” he said. “The rescue operation was mounted very quickly because the search operation underway was very intense.”
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