The DailyMail.co.uk reported today that the family cruising aboard the sailing vessel ING are being threatened with death if any attempts are made to rescue them.
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 11:31 AM on 2nd March 2011
“A Somali pirate has warned that if any attempt is made to rescue seven Danish hostages then the gang responsible for their capture will kill them.
The family have been named as Jan Quist Johansen, his wife Birgit Marie Johansen, their sons Rune and Hjalte and their daughter Naja. They are from Kalundborg, 75 miles west of Copenhagen.
The pirate who made the threat, Abdullahi Mohamed, said that he has ties with those holding the Danish crew, which also includes two other adults.
The chairman of the Kalundborg yacht club, Ole Meridin Petersen, said the Johansen family were experienced sailors who were planning to enter the Mediterranean through the Suez canal from the Red Sea.
Most hostages captured in the waters off East Africa are professional sailors, not families. Pirates are not known to have captured children before.
The Danish Foreign Ministry said the ship sent a distress signal last Thursday.
‘It has now been confirmed that the yacht was hijacked by pirates in the Indian Ocean,’ the ministry said.
Danish Foreign Minister Lene Espersen said she was ‘deeply concerned’ about the situation and expressed her sympathies to the hostages and their relatives.
‘It is almost unbearable to think that there are children involved and I can only sharply denounce the pirates’ actions,’ she said.
…….all we can do is pray!!!!!!!!
I’ll second that!
Praying while others are preying is a foolhardy act.
There are quite a few war ships patrolling these areas. Only when they start shooting and drowning the pirate boats will this practice stop. They simply must have too much to loose.
Egypt Copts We pray to God to give freedom to this family and all detainees and all the agonizing
[…] the aftermath of the killings aboard the sailing yacht Quest in mid-February and more recently, the taking hostage of seven Danes, including three children, after hijacking their yacht ING off the Somali coast, the Rally […]