Tuesday August 19, 2014
A man clings to debris as a bullet apparently hits the water in front of him.
Fijian police have been told that four men apparently killed at sea in a video posted on YouTube were most likely Somali pirates shot by fishermen after a failed hijacking attempt.The police have asked Interpol for help verifying a video which appears to show the brutal killing of men at sea.
A graphic video posted on YouTube in Suva yesterday shows four men being shot as they cling to debris in the ocean.
Gunshots come from one of several boats surrounding the men, and blood is seen in the water.
Men on the boat, which is reportedly a tuna fishing vessel, are seen laughing and posing for photographs at the end of the video. The video's contents have not been verified.
The YouTube post says the victims were Fijian and were shot just outside Fijian waters.
However, Fiji Tuna Boat Owners Association president Graham Southwick says Taiwanese boat owners and contractors in Suva have told police they believe the footage relates to a failed hijacking off Somali last year.
"They ... said we know about this incident, it's a very famous incident and this didn't happen in Fiji, it happened off the coast of Somalia," Mr Southwick told Pacific Beat.
"And the graphic pictures you see of people gunned in the water are not Fijians_,_ but Somali pirates that attempted a hijack of some Taiwanese vessels that attempted a hijack that backfired and they all got gunned down.
"The debris floating in the water is the wreckage of a Somali pirate boat that got rammed by one of the Taiwanese boats."
Police in Suva say there is no clear evidence to identify the victims, or pinpoint where and when the apparent murders took place.
"We have not received any formal complaints and I have not yet seen the video," Fiji assistant police commissioner Rusiate Tudravu told Radio Australia earlier today.
Fijian authorities have asked Interpol and police in neighbouring Pacific countries for assistance in establishing the facts.
The men on the boat from which the shots are fired can be heard speaking in Mandarin and interpreters for Television New Zealand have identified Taiwanese, Thai and Vietnamese voices on the video.
One man can be heard saying: "Shoot, shoot, shoot".
Someone says: "If you see anyone, just kill. Look ahead there: one and two."
A man can also be heard giving out instructions, telling another man at the front of the boat to "be prepared".
Chinese characters reading "Safety is number one" can also be seen on the side of one of the boats.
Violence on Pacific seas 'relatively common': Southwick
Despite confusion over the video's authenticity, Mr Southwick, says violence often erupts at sea, and crew members go missing.
"This particular type of incident of being shot in the water and all that stuff is, you know, [is] extremely unusual, but conflicts and fights and murders on the high seas, on fishing boats, is relatively common," he said.
"In the Pacific there would probably be half a dozen a year at least, but usually it's the result of some sort of a conflict or fight or something on the boat, and the report usually comes back that, either he fell over the side, or whatever, and then there's nothing much anybody can do very much about it.
"If they die of natural causes, they're usually stuck in the freezer and brought back in at some stage of the game. But this would be extremely rare I'd say, this deliberate slaughter of people that got off the boat."
Mr Southwick says authorities have the call sign and details of at least one of the ships and will be working to identify crew members who could shed light on this gruesome maritime mystery.
SOURCE: abc.net.au