An Algerian man who went missing 26 years ago has been found in his neighbour's cellar, just a couple hundred metres away from where he grew up, the country's justice ministry says.
The 45-year-old man identified as Omar bin Omran disappeared from the north-central Algerian town of Djelfa when he was 19.
His family assumed he had been among the hundreds of thousands killed or kidnapped during the Algerian Civil War in 1998.
But Mr Omran was found in a sheepfold under haystacks only about 200 metres away from his childhood home on May 12, according to Algerian media reports.
His alleged captor, a 61-year-old doorman who lived alone, was taken into custody after trying to flee, the justice ministry said.
Five other people were taken into custody, according to Algeria's Ennahar TV, which cited a statement from the Djelfa Judicial Council.
According to the El Khabar newspaper, authorities received a tip-off after Mr Omran's brother aired grievances on social media, reportedly due to an inheritance dispute.
Mr Omran said he had not been able to call out for help "because of a spell that his captor had cast on him," Algerian media reported.
Describing the crime as "heinous," the justice ministry said an investigation was in progress and that Mr Omran was receiving medical and psychological care.
Mr Omran's mother died in 2013 without ever knowing the truth of what happened to him, according to El Khabar.
The newspaper said, according to accounts from locals, Mr Omran's dog had hung around the suspect's home for at least a month after he disappeared.
ABC/AFP
