DHAKA: Seven Bangladeshi sailors, held hostage by Somali pirates for almost four years, finally returned home yesterday, saying it was “unbelievable” to be alive.
The sailors, who had been held in dire conditions and suffered beatings, flew into the Bangladeshi capital after the foreign ministry said they were freed last week after lengthy negotiations.
“It’s unbelievable that I am still alive and free. I want to see my family,” Abul Kashem, 46, one of sailors, said at Dhaka airport.
“Every day in captivity was like hell. We were not given proper food. They used to torture us on almost every day for ransom,” Kashem said.
Although Bangladesh said they were freed, other officials have said they were among 11 sailors mostly from Asia who escaped last week and were taken to safety in Kenya.
The group “sneaked out a window” of their pirate prison to escape their captors, before being rescued by local security forces, a British mediator who helped secure their freedom said last week.
Their boat, the Malaysian-flagged-ship MV Albedo, was hijacked in November 2010 by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean. Afp
