Hanoi - A gang from Laos has released 14 Vietnamese it kidnapped in late April while they were harvesting forest products in a border area, a police official said Monday.

It was the third time since January 2008 that Lao gangs had seized Vietnamese for ransom in the forested, mountainous border region, and police said they feared the kidnappings will continue.

"I am afraid similar cases will occur in the future, because it is very difficult to prevent them in the jungle," said Nguyen Thanh Tan, director of the Police Department of Ha Tinh Province, where the kidnapping took place.

The 14 Vietnamese were searching for wild honey and aloe wood in forests near their villages along the Lao border when a gang of armed men speaking Lao took them prisoner.

Three of the 14 managed to escape from their captors as they were being marched into Lao territory.

The Vietnamese newspaper Dan Tri on Sunday quoted one of the escapees as saying the nine kidnappers, some wearing masks, carried five AK-47 automatic rifles, two hunting rifles and a B41 rocket-propelled grenade launcher.

The newspaper said the kidnappers had released five captives on May 2 with instructions to bring 70 million Lao kip (8,700 dollars) to a location in exchange for the release of the other six captives.

On May 4 the released captives brought a sum of money to the specified location, but the kidnappers failed to appear. The men then reported the situation to the local government, who requested help from Lao authorities.

On Saturday, Lao authorities told Vietnamese border guards in Ha Tinh that the six remaining captives were safely under guard at the Na Cai border post.

"We do not know whether they were arrested by Lao authorities, or whether Lao authorities rescued them from the kidnappers," said Lt Col Truong Thanh, chief of staff of border guard forces in Ha Tinh.

Thanh said it was unclear whether the forces who initially took the Vietnamese prisoner were Lao authorities or an illegal gang.

Thanh said Ha Tinh border guards had sent officers to Laos to investigate the case and repatriate the remaining six Vietnamese.

Vietnamese authorities were also investigating whether the kidnapping took place in Vietnamese or Lao territory.

"I think the case may have occurred in Lao territory," said Tan. "No one can say for sure such cases will not be repeated. People still have to make a living, they still have to go into the jungle."(dpa)