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A 13-day trip to Sweden was suddenly interrupted when a Chinese tour group of 43 people was robbed of their passports. After speaking with the local Chinese embassy, temporary passports were issued to the tourists for their return trip home. As of July 6, the last of the tourists have gotten home safely.
The robbery occurred when the Chinese group went to visit Stockholm City Hall on June 30. During lunch, a white man wearing a headset and playing on an iPad suddenly rushed forward and snatched the tour guide's bag. He quickly jumped into a car waiting in front of the restaurant and escaped.
Inside the bag were the passports of every single group member, as well as some cash belonging to the guide. The group managed to catch the license plate of the robber's car, but local police later verified that the car had a fake plate. The tour guide said they could no longer continue to travel without passports.
Many tourists requested compensation from the travel agency, Beijing Datang Travel Agency, after returning home. One employee of the agency said: "After the loss of the passports, we paid for all accommodations and restaurant fees, as well as for the return tickets. The agency's net loss from the trip has already reached nearly 1 million yuan." The employee promised that there will be compensation, but a specific compensation package is still being negotiated.
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