The advisor to the Madeiran community in South Africa, José Luís da Silva, confirmed on Wednesday that two Portuguese shopkeepers were kidnapped at the weekend in Alexandra (Gauteng province), in the center of Johannesburg, South Africa.

"There was a kidnapping of two Madeiran shopkeepers in the Alexandra neighborhood, on Third Avenue, more or less at the entrance to the M2 freeway, where they blocked the car, someone took the wheel and disappeared with the two shopkeepers, who had just closed their butcher's shop," he explained, quoted by Porto Canal.

The incident took place on Sunday at around 18:00 local time, "but they also say that it could have happened on Saturday, no one can confirm this, including one of their close relatives".

It is known that one of the victims had already been shot "in the arm" the week before the kidnapping, according to another Madeiran businessman in Johannesburg.

Information is still scarce, but there are assurances that the local police are conducting negotiations under the utmost secrecy given the delicacy of the situation. For now, the whereabouts of the victims since the kidnapping and whether they were accompanied are unknown.

The robbers are said to have demanded a multimillion-dollar ransom in exchange for the freedom of the two shopkeepers from the island of Madeira.