Three Chinese workers and a Vietnamese diplomat, kidnapped on Saturday morning in Rio de Janeiro, were found by the police in Rio's metro area Itaguai on Monday morning, local police said.

Twelve masked men, armed with rifles and wearing policemen clothes, robbed the three Chinese workers' cash, watches and jewelry and kidnapped them on Saturday morning on the Paineiras Road, near the Rio's famed Christ the Redeemer statue.

Vu Thanh Nam, identified by the Vienamese Embassy as a high-ranking consular official, and his family were also robbed by the masked men on the way to the statue. He was kidnapped and taken to a shantytown of Rio after he revealed his diplomat identity.

(Xinhua News Agency August 19, 2008)