Pirates kill 11 fishermen off Jolo

Pirates killed 11 fishermen as they attacked a trawler named Prince Warren FT, off the southern island of Jolo on Monday, a police report said yesterday.

Villagers rescued two injured fishermen who survived the carnage, in Pangutaran island on Thursday. But the official report was made only yesterday, said Senior Superintendent Arip Baanan, police chief of Jolo Province. He did not explain why the report was delayed.

The survivors, Aurelio Montaje, 36, and Dominador Bongator, 29, told investigators that four pirates, armed with automatic weapons aboard a speedboat opened fire on them and instantly killed their companions, many of whom fell off the trawler.

They said they came from the port city of General Santos and proceeded to the Sulu Sea, but they were attacked instead when they reached the waters off Kulassein island.

Although injured, the two survivors said they pretended to be dead and let their bodies float until the gunmen sped off with the trawler. To survive, they swam for hours until they spotted an island, they said.

The investigators said the survivors swam about five miles until they reached Kulasihan isle off Pangutaran where fishermen rescued them.

Village official Isamel Basig informed the police about the survivors and the attack that was inflicted on their companions.

A helicopter of the air force located the trawler. However, the coastguard and the navy have not yet sent a report on the fate of the missing fishermen.

"The survivors are being treated for gunshot wounds in Jolo," Baanan said, adding that the survivors will be transferred because of their fear of being targeted for another attack by relatives and friends of the pirates.

Pirates and rebels are known to operate in the south and were blamed for many attacks on fishermen. In 1998, Abu Sayyaf rebels kidnapped two Hong Kong workers and a Malaysian fishery worker on an isle off Tawi-Tawi province. They were freed several months later after their families paid a huge ransom.