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Malaysia former hostages recount kidnap ordeal in Somalia
Somali pirates pointed guns habitually at captive Malaysian and Filipino tanker crew members, according to news reports on Sunday.
- Agencies
- Published: 10:02 October 5, 2008
Kuala Lumpur: Somali pirates pointed guns habitually at captive Malaysian and Filipino tanker crew members, according to news reports on Sunday.
The 79 crew members of two Malaysian vessels hijacked separately off the coast of Somalia in August were flown back to Malaysia on Saturday.
Their narration of their time in captivity provided a glimpse into the behaviour of Somalia's pirates.
Malaysian crew member Baharudin Mohammad said the pirates were "fond of pointing their guns at us throughout the ordeal," the national news agency Bernama reported.
Mohammad said, however, that the pirates were accommodating when they requested to pray during the Ramadan period, which ended last month.
Pirates hijacked the two ships in the Gulf of Aden north of Somalia. One Filipino crew member died in the raid.
The Malaysian crew said the pirates accidentally killed a Filipino while seizing their ship.
The pirates "fired a warning shot which unfortunately ricocheted off the ceiling and penetrated his head," crew member Nuzaihan Abd Rani told The Star newspaper.
Crew members said the pirates approached their tankers in speed boats that looked like fishing vessels. Once they were close enough, they fired gunshots and climbed aboard.
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