Hostages kill their pirate captors

The crew of a Libyan-owned cargo ship pounced on their sleeping Somali captors yesterday, disarmed the pirates and killed five of them, regaining control of their vessel that had been hijacked almost three months earlier.

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.

A crew member was seriously injured during the struggle, the EU's anti-piracy naval force said. The crew of 10, who are mainly Syrian, were confirmed to be in control by the EU force.