End to days of worry

Press, 4 October 1977, Page 1

End to days of worry

PA Invercargill Days of worry ended yesterday for a Riverton Rocks couple when their son was released by Japanese Red Army hijackers at Kuwait Airport. Gavin Black, aged 28, son of Jocelyn and Robert Black, was among the seven hostages freed at Kuwait.

Mr Black, who is single, has lived about nine years in Australia. He is a computer technician in Sydney. He had attended a threemonth course in Dayton, Ohio, in the United States, and was returning to Sydney when the hijacking occurred. Mrs Black said yesterday that when she had received no word of his whereabouts on Friday, she decided to ring Sydney. But before she did this the Ministry of Foreign Affairs advised that her son was on the hijacked plane. At first Mr and Mrs Black would not talk about their son’s presence on board. Mrs Black said she felt it was enough to bear without the publicity. However, hearing no news, she became “quite frantic” and approached the news media for help. “I hope we never, never have another one like this and everything goes all right now,” Mrs Black said. Mr Black was the third New Zealander involved in the hijack. The other two, Roy and Molly Johnston, of Wellington, have been released and yesterday were still in Dacca planning their trip home.