NAIROBI, Kenya — The crew of a Libyan-owned cargo ship pounced on their sleeping Somali captors Wednesday, disarmed the pirates and killed five of them, regaining control of their vessel that had been hijacked almost three months earlier, officials said.
A sixth pirate who survived the attack by the MV Rim crew managed to lock himself in a room and call other pirates to say they had been overpowered before the crew took him hostage, said Abdiaziz Aw Yusuf, the Garacad district commissioner. Garacad is the coastal town near which the MV Rim has been anchored.
A crew member was seriously injured during the struggle, the European Union's anti-piracy naval force said in a statement. The crew had reported to the force that they had retaken control of the ship Wednesday morning. The EU said it is believed some of the pirates were killed during the incident.
