THE father of student hostage Paul Wells today spoke of his emotional visit to the Kashmir village where unconfirmed rumours have suggested his son was killed.

Bob Wells says he may now stay a little longer in his quest for clues about Paul's disappearance.

Mr Wells was accompanied by Paul's girlfriend Cath Moseley and relatives of the three other Westerners being held hostage in Kashmir when he visited Magarm yesterday.

Speaking from his hotel in the Kashmiri capital of Srinagar, he said: "We visited Magarm because it is the area where the hostages are believed to have been held during the winter.

"It is also the area where they were rumoured to have been killed. "We were able to speak to almost the entire village through the elders and appealed for help and information.

"They all said that they felt for us and were well aware of the situation. They said 'Your children are our children.'

"We replied by telling them, 'Your problem is our problem.'"

Mr Wells, of Bracken Close, Blackburn, suggested that his two-week tour of India and Jammu Kashmir may now be extended by a couple of days.

He had been due to return on October 29.

He has been accompanied by armed police and soldiers throughout his trip to the province where Paul, 25, Middlesbrough man Keith Mangan, American Donald Hutchings and German Dirk Hasert have been held for more than 15 months.

Despite appeals and massive public interest, there has so far been no indication whether the tourists are still alive.

Yesterday Mr Wells also spoke to the Chief Minister of Kashmir, Mr Farooq Abdullah, about efforts to free his son.

He added: "We have been very busy making appeals through the various radio and television stations and have also been to speak to various people.

"Mr Abdullah assured us that every effort was being made by his authorities to help."

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