By Magdalene Mukami
NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) – A group of 26 sailors from east Asia held captive by Somali pirates for four years arrived in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on Sunday ahead of returning home.
Many of the sailors from Vietnam, China, the Philippines, Taiwan, Indonesia and Cambodia broke down in tears as they arrived at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, from where they will fly back to their own countries.
The crew were captured in March 2012 when their vessel, the Taiwanese-owned fishing vessel Naham 3, was hijacked by Somali pirates near the Seychelles.
They were handed over to authorities in the northern Somali town of Galkayo on Saturday morning by their captors, making them the longest-held hostages taken by pirates in the Horn of Africa region.
The sailors, all dressed in blue shirts, were met at the airport by Michael Scott Moore, an American writer who was released by Somali pirates in September 2014.
Piracy off the Somali coast has declined in recent years due to increased naval patrols and greater security aboard merchant ships.
