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They discovered the four Americans shot. At least one — Ms. Macay — was alive when
the Seals boarded. The US Navy Seals attempted unsuccessfully to save the injured
hostages, the military said.
“As they responded to the gunfire, reaching and boarding the Quest, the forces
discovered all four hostages had been shot by their captors”, Gen James Mattis of US
Central Command Commander said in a statement.
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“As they responded to the gunfire, reaching and boarding the Quest, the forces
discovered all four hostages had been shot by their captors”.
“We express our deepest condolences for the innocent lives callously lost aboard the
Quest”, the statement added.
But the BBC's Will Ross in Nairobi says the pirates' telling of the encounter differs from
the US Navy's. The pirates report the US warship attacked first, killing two pirates, and the
hostages were killed in retaliation.
The incident will provoke further debate on whether the use of force is wise when
dealing with Somali pirates who have already taken hostages, our correspondent says.
Obama notified
The White House said President Barack Obama on Saturday had authorised the use of
force in the case of “an imminent threat” to the hostages. He was notified of the hostages'
deaths soon after they were killed, spokesman Jay Carney said.
On Tuesday, Navy officials told reporters that two pirates had boarded a naval vessel for
negotiations when the pirate crew aboard the Quest fired a rocket-propelled grenade at their ship.
The grenade missed, and the US Navy sailors then heard gunfire aboard the Quest
and dispatched the Navy Seal boarding party, which discovered the four Americans.
The US Navy is reported to have captured 13 pirates, killed two - one with shots and
another with a knife - and found the remains of two other pirates already dead about the
vessel, the US military said.
According to the Adams's website, the middle-aged couple set sail in 2002 on the 58-foot
vessel, and in 2004 they embarked on a planned eight- to 10-year voyage around the world.
Before their capture, the sailors had crossed the Indian Ocean from Cochin, India, after
calling at Phuket, Thailand and Sri Lanka. They hoped to disembark in Djibouti, then cross
the Suez Canal before sailing to Crete in April.
“My aunt was very adventurous. If this was something that was going to scare her she
would not be doing it”.
The couple had also stopped updating friends on their location, in an apparent effort to
keep their whereabouts secret from pirates.
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