SOMALIA: British couple Paul and Rachel Chandler arrive in Mogadishu after being released by pirates

Record ID: 1540670

  • Title: SOMALIA: British couple Paul and Rachel Chandler arrive in Mogadishu after being released by pirates
  • Date: 15th November 2010
  • Summary: MOGADISHU, SOMALIA (NOVEMBER 14, 2010) (REUTERS) AIRPLANE ON TARMAC PEOPLE, INCLUDING SOLDIERS, SURROUNDING AIRPLANE ON TARMAC RACHEL AND PAUL CHANDLER GETTING OFF PLANE AND ENTERING TRUCK (SOUNDBITE) (English) ABDI MOHAMED ELMI, SOMALI DOCTOR INVOLVED WITH NEGOTIATIONS: +INAUDIBLE+ TRUCKS ON TARMAC AS ONE DRIVES AWAY
  • Embargoed: 30th November 2010 03:40
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Somalia
  • Country: Somalia
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA85ONW9K0NERUO2SJLQA4GQS2K
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: A British couple freed by Somali pirates arrived in Mogadishu on Sunday (November 14), having been held hostage for more than a year.
    Witnesses said the couple were now on their way to Kenya's capital, Nairobi.
    Paul and Rachel Chandler were kidnapped on October 23, 2009 after their 38-foot yacht Lynn Rival was hijacked in the Indian Ocean off Seychelles.
    Rachel Chandler earlier told Reuters she was delighted to be free.
    Mohamed Aden Tiicey, a senior official in the town of Adado, told Reuters the retired couple were handed over early on Sunday after the payment of a ransom.
    Abdi Mohamed Elmi, a Somali doctor who has been involved in efforts to free the Chandlers, told Reuters the couple would leave Adado by aircraft. A plane left Kenya's capital Nairobi on Sunday morning to collect them.
    Somali pirates typically hijack merchant vessels, take the ships to coastal towns they control and hold them until a ransom is paid. With ransoms usually in the millions of dollars, the lucrative trade has continued despite foreign naval patrols.
    According to the International Maritime Board, ship hijackings hit a five-year high in the first nine months of 2010 with Somali pirates accounting for 35 of the 39 ships seized.
    According to Ecoterra, a rights group that monitors shipping in the Indian Ocean, more than 500 crew members and nearly 30 ships were still being held by Somali pirates as of November 10.
    While the pirates usually focus on larger ships, a few yachts have also been seized.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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