Captive Sri Lankan fishermen’s desperate plea to govt. to rescue them from Somali pirates
By ANITuesday, February 1, 2011
COLOMBO - Three Sri Lankan fishermen captured by Somali pirates have desperately sought their country’s help through radar communication after two of their colleagues were killed.
The BBC quoted Sri Lankan maritime authorities as saying that the pirates have thrown the bodies of two fishermen overboard after shooting them dead.
Meanwhile, two other Sri Lankan fishermen captured earlier by Somali pirates were reportedly released.
Lal de Silva, Assistant Director of Fisheries Department said that five fishermen set sail on January 4 from southern Sri Lanka, adding: “The group and their boat were captured by the pirates on 27 January. We currently do not know where the captured fishermen are kept.”
He also said that the fisheries ministry has sought the foreign ministry’s help to get the captured fishermen released.
The Sri Lankan authorities have not made contacts with the pirates as of now, but have repeatedly urged fishermen not to enter any other country’s waters because of the dangers involved.
Pirates took a record 1,181 hostages in 2010, despite increased patrolling of the seas. Fifty-three ships were hijacked worldwide, 49 of them off Somalia’s coast, and eight sailors were killed, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) recently said. (ANI)
