Four US hostages shot dead by Somalia pirates
As US Naval forces fail in their bid to rescue sailors taken hostage by pirates, Lieutenant Colonel Lawhorn tells Channel 4 News they acted after hearing arms fire on the boat.
The four sailors were round the world travellers Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle from Seattle and their friends – and the boat’s owners – Jean and Scott Adam from California.
Their boat, the Quest, was attacked by pirates on Friday and was being monitored by US forces. Four navy warships were involved, including an aircraft carrier.
Arms fire
“Negotiations were ongoing,” Lieutenant Colonol Michael Lawhorn, at US Central Command, told Channel 4 News.
“The first action taken was a rocket propelled grenade [from the pirates] then we heard small arms fire on the ship and we did an emergency assault, believing lives were in danger.”
A spokesman for US Central Command in Florida said that on boarding the Quest, all four hostages were discovered injured. ]
He said: “Despite immediate steps to provide life-saving care, all four died of their wounds.”
The military said that two pirates died in the confrontation and 13 more were captured and detained. In total it is believed that 19 pirates were involved in the hijacking of the Quest.
Somalia has had no functioning Government since 1991 and piracy is a deadly threat to ships passing through the region.
The British couple Paul and Rachel Chandler were recently held for nearly 400 days, after their yacht was hijacked near the Seychelles in October 2009. They were eventually released after the intervention of a Somali-British man from Leyton in east London.