“Eight Filipino fishermen were fatally shot by at least five suspected pirates who boarded their boat in the southern Philippines on Mon night, Jan 9,” reports Associated Press.
The report noted: “Seven other crew members survived the attack Monday night in waters near Zamboanga City by jumping off the boat and swimming away when the attackers began tying up their colleagues.”
Commodore Joel Garcia, head of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), was quoted as saying, “According to the initial investigation, (the attackers) were on board a boat and they were all armed. They immediately tied up eight of the crewmen, and the seven others were able to jump out and survive.”
The report further revealed that “two of the survivors reached land and reported the massacre to a village leader, who alerted the PCG.”
The Coast Guard sent two vessels to the area and found the fishing boat floating with eight bodies on board.
Lt. Commander Alvin Dagalea, commander of the coast guard station in Zamboanga on Mindanao island, said in a telephone interview that “the gunmen are believed to be pirates.”
The report likewise pointed out that the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf are suspected of being behind a string of hijackings at sea in the southern Philippines.
