Three more crew members of hijacked tanker arrive in Karachi

• Nihal Hashmi, Murtaza Wahab receive crew.
• MT Honour 25 seized by pirates on April 21.
• Puntland forces free tanker, capture 16 pirates.
  

Three more crew members of the hijacked tanker MT Honour 25 arrived in Karachi through a foreign airline on Wednesday.

The crew members were identified as Muhammad Yasin from Peshawar, Imran Ali, and Syed Hussain Yousuf, each from Karachi, and were medically examined at the airport.

The victims were welcomed by Sindh Governor Nehal Hashmi, Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab and family at the Jinnah International Airport, Karachi.

Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab said that he was happy about the victims’ return, but he also expressed sadness at the loss of life among some crew members.

The Palau-flagged petroleum products tanker had been seized by Somali pirates on April 21, around 30 nautical miles off the coast of Puntland, with 17 crew members aboard, including 10 Pakistani nationals.

Puntland authorities, after months, in September, launched a rescue operation, freeing the tanker and capturing 16 pirates. However, before the operation began, five crew members were killed — three Pakistanis, one Indian and one Myanmar national — while four others were injured.

Earlier this week, four injured crew members — Usman Ghani, Aqeel Khan, Ameen bin Shams and Yasir Khan — along with the mortal remains of Rafiullah Khan, Syed Kashif Umer and Mahmood Ahmad Ansari, had arrived aboard Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 694.