8 held on kidnapping charges

London - Eight people were remanded in custody yesterday charged with holding nine Chinese hostages for up to 10 days in a small London flat. Two of the hostages, both of them women, were kept locked in a tiny cupboard the size of a teachest. Police freed the captives in a raid on Thursday after one managed to escape and raise the alarm. The hostages are believed to be victims of Chinese "Snakehead" gangsters, who smuggle illegal immigrants into Britain and sometimes hold them hostage to demand payments from relatives.