THE parents of a York backpacker trapped in strife-torn Bolivia said today that he was safe.

Dan Baines, 24, from Nether Poppleton, and his friend, Mark Noone, were stuck in a hostel in the Bolivian capital, La Paz, after becoming caught up in civil unrest against President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, who resigned on Friday.

Dan and Mark, who are on a round-the-world-trip, had been in the South American country for a couple of weeks before the trouble broke out.

Dan's father, Paul, said: "He wants to stay there for a bit longer to see how things settle down before heading off to Peru and Brazil."

Updated: 10:58 Monday, October 20, 2003