KENYA: Paul and Rachel Chandler continue to recuperate at the British High Commissioner residence in Nairobi a day after being released by pirates

Record ID: 360677

  • Title: KENYA: Paul and Rachel Chandler continue to recuperate at the British High Commissioner residence in Nairobi a day after being released by pirates
  • Date: 16th November 2010
  • Summary: NAIROBI, KENYA (NOVEMBER 15, 2010) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR/WIDE OF BRITISH HIGH COMMISSIONER RESIDENCE CLOSE OF PLAGUE READING 'BRITISH HIGH COMMISSIONER RESIDENCE' WOMAN COMING OUT OF RESIDENCE/WAVING KENYA POLICE IN PLAIN CLOTHES VARIOUS OF BRITISH HIGH COMMISSIONER RESIDENCE VARIOUS OF NEWS MEDIA / TV CAMERAS OUTSIDE RESIDENCE
  • Embargoed: 1st December 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA9X3R1M31BWW50DKVKCQ35QPS7
  • Story Text: British couple Paul and Rachel Chandler enjoy the second day of freedom on Monday (November 15) after being held for more than a year by gunmen while aboard their yacht near the Seychelles archipelago.
    The couple were handed to local officials in a central Somali town after a ransom was paid on Sunday (November 14). They were flown to the capital Mogadishu to meet the Somali prime minister and then to neighbouring Kenya. On arrival there were then taken to the British High Commissioner residence in Nairobi and continue to remain there while they recover from their ordeal.
    Somali pirates kidnapped the couple on Oct. 23 last year after hijacking their 38-foot yacht, Lynn Rival, in the Indian Ocean off the Seychelles.
    Paul Chandler, 60, and his wife, Rachel, 56, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, in southeast England, had embarked on their voyage when they retired.
    Somali pirates typically hijack merchant vessels, take the ships to coastal towns they control and hold them until a ransom is paid. With ransoms often in the millions of dollars, the lucrative trade has continued despite foreign naval patrols.
    While the pirates usually focus on larger ships for a big payoff, a few yachts have also been seized.
    Somalia has lacked an effective central government for almost two decades and is awash with weapons. The mayhem on land has allowed piracy to boom in the strategic waterways off its shores linking Europe to Asia and Africa.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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