Kidnapped sailor tells his story to Echouorouk
“I will never forget the day where a conflict broke out between the pirates and resorted to arms to settle the matterâ€, that was the answer of the youngest sailor of MV Blida ship held hostage by the Somali pirates for over 10 months, to Echouorouk.
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Achour Ben Kaci ( 29) has accepted to receive us at home in the locality of Bousmail , Tipasa, eastern Algiers, though his sister has hesitated because he was exhausted.
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He started his story from their departure from Omani shores till their kidnapping by the Somali pirates who expanded their “activities” to areas known for their safety in the past. “ I was sleeping when the alarm woke me up and rushed to the cabin where I was informed by my comrades that were about to be kidnapped by pirates… Few moments after, they shot bullets in the air while some sailors used hoses as self defence. But they ( pirates) have taken control over the situation and grouped us on the deck and one of them addressed us saying” Don’t be frightened, we are only interested in money and we’ll set you free” , before heading to the Somali shores.
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Ben Kaci further added” They head us for the Somali shores without informing us because nobody dared discussing with them, but we knew that they were Somali pirates and were convinced that our future destination will be this country”.
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“ Five days passed as if it was five months before reaching the port of “ Kerrad” held by a group led by a man called “ Ahmed”.. After a while, the negotiator came and allowed us to get in touch with our families to reassure them, but it was clear that he was trying to pressure the company’s managers to start the negotiations”, he added.
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Achour has indicated that skirmishes were common between them to an extent that they were resorting to arms to settle the conflicts” Moments of quietness were generally spoiled by tough brawls between the pirates, who frequently used their arms in the vessel’s compartments, putting our lives at stake because we could receive a random bullet at any moment”.
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Their behaviour was versatile, sometimes they were quiet and sociable but they would suddenly turn to ruthless individuals ready to mistreat you, Achour indicated.
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