MOSCOW -- Three workers for a Latvian construction company were kidnapped in a restive region of southern Russia bordering on separatist Chechnya, officials said Wednesday.


The three were seized Tuesday in the settlement of Yandari, located in the small republic of Ingushetia, the Ingush Interior Ministry said, Itar-Tass reported.


It was not clear whether the three were Latvian citizens or Russians working for the company, Latvia-Tilti.


Ingushetia has been the site of numerous kidnappings since the end of Chechnya's 1994-96 war with Moscow.