Off the wire
Spring Festival events attended by 280 million overseas  • China promises further cuts to steel, coal capacity  • Illegal fishing still rampant in Zanzibar: official  • Total number of displaced people in Iraq's Mosul exceeds 200,000 mark  • Chinese automaker FAW sees robust sales growth  • Iran beats Malaysia in AFC Beach Soccer Championship  • Chinese leaders review gov't work report with lawmakers  • Shenzhen upset Shanghai 3-2 in CBA quarter finals  • Indonesian delegation in Bahrain to review lifting ban on domestic workers  • Results of Chinese Super League  
You are here:   Home

Eight kidnapped Russian, Ukrainian sailors released by Nigerian pirates

Xinhua, March 5, 2017 Adjust font size:

Seven Russian and one Ukrainian crew members of a German vessel had been released from the captivity of Nigerian pirates, Sevastopol human rights commissioner Pavel Butsai said Sunday.

"The Russian sailors -- residents of Sevastopol in Crimea -- are already in the airport of Germany's Frankfurt and will fly to their motherland in coming days," Butsai was quoted by the RIA Novosti news agency as saying.

"They are happy and well," he added.

Butsai did not disclose details of the release, only saying that everything was "successful and effective."

The ship BBC Caribbean, which belongs to German company Briese Schiffahrts, was attacked by Nigerian pirates on Feb. 5 in the Gulf of Guinea en route from Cameroon to Ghana.

The eight crew members were kidnapped while the vessel itself was not captured. Endi