Nine freed hostages take flight back home

Nine of the 10 Chinese sailors released from captivity by Somali pirates arrived in Guangzhou on Oct 25, looking exhausted but happy.

The group, including eight from the Chinese mainland and one from Taiwan, were on their way back to their hometowns, China Central Television reported.

"We were very excited when the pirates released us," said a sailor from Sichuan province. The sailors are expected to need time to recover from ailments such as malnourishment, as well as from the ordeal of captivity. They stood for a picture at the airport with a banner reading: "The home country welcomes you back."

Yang Hsiu-hui, the wife of Shen Jui-chang from Taiwan, said she was "very happy" to have her husband back. She traveled to Guangzhou to pick him up.

Yang said that when she learned more than four years ago that her husband had been kidnapped, she hugged her two daughters and cried, and the children would cry whenever they saw a photo of their father.

She thanked the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits for their help.

Reports have said the couple would return to Taiwan on Oct 26.

Twenty-six sailors, including the 10 Chinese, were released by the Somali pirates on Oct 22 and arrived in Kenya the next day.

One of the Chinese sailors remained in Kenya for medical treatment and will return to China after his condition improves, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said at a news conference on Oct 25.

The pirates originally captured 29 sailors, including 12 Chinese, when they hijacked the Oman-flagged fishing vessel Naham 3 in March 2012. Three sailors died - including one from the mainland and one from Taiwan. One was killed during the hijacking and two other died of illnesses.

wangqingyun@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 10/28/2016 page15)