Chinese hostages receive tearful welcome home after four-year ordeal at hands of Somali pirates
Mainlanders and Taiwanese former crew members on fishing boat arrived in Guangzhou on Tuesday after their release last week, state media reported
Eight mainland Chinese and one Taiwanese former hostages held by Somali pirates for over 4½ years have arrived in China after their release last week, state media reported.
The malnourished crew members arrived at Guangzhou airport on Tuesday morning, state TV said.
They were among 29 Asian hostages taken captive on an Oman-flagged fishing vessel south of the Seychelles in March 2012.
Twenty-six were released last week. One crew member died during the hijacking and two later from illness.
A pirates spokesman Bile Hussein said US$1.5 million in ransom was paid for the sailors’ release, the Associated Press news agency reported on Monday. The claim could not be independently verified.