Wednesday, April 11, 2012
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Two Filipino crew members of a hijacked Iranian-owned cargo ship were killed in an Iranian rescue operation, the Philippines said yesterday.Twenty-one other crew members of the MV Eglantine, including eight Filipinos, were rescued unharmed in the operation by the Iranian navy on April 2, foreign affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said.
Twelve pirates were captured, he said.
The surviving Filipinos were to return to Manila later, he added.
Hernandez said one Filipino died from a gunshot wound to the head while the other suffocated in the engine room where he hid during the rescue.
The crew said that during the raid, the pirates tied their hands behind their backs and used them as shields, he said. The MV Eglantine, owned by Tehran-based KISH Shipping, was hijacked on March 26 off the south-western coast of India.
Forty-seven other Filipino crew are being held by pirates on several seized ships off the coast of Somalia. The Philippines, which supplies a third of the world’s sea crew, does not negotiate or pay ransoms to kidnappers.