CAIRO (dpa) – Two hostages died when the Danish navy stormed a Danish ship seized by pirates off the coast of Somalia, officials in Copenhagen said Tuesday. The navy had been tracking the hijacked vessel for some time and ordered it to stop when it attempted to leave the coast on Monday. The pirates ignored the order, prompting the Danes to fire warning shots. They were later granted permission by NATO to fire at “specific parts of the (pirate) vessel,” Danish navy spokesman Kenneth Nielsen told dpa. Officials said 17 suspected pirates and 18 hostages were eventually found on board the ship. Two of the hostages were injured, and later died of their wounds. The navy said it has launched an investigation to determine the cause of death. “It is standard procedure for the Danish armed forces that as soon as we have other people wounded or killed in our actions, we investigate,” Nielsen said. The nationalities of the hostages had not been released. Since December, the Danish navy's Absalon has been deployed as part of an international action patrolling the sea lanes off Somalia. The Absalon in January freed 14 Iranian and Pakistani hostages from a fishing vessel in a similar operation off the coast of Somalia. Denmark recently signed deals with Kenya and the Seychelles to try the eight suspected Somali pirates found on the fishing vessel that the Absalon intervened against in January BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/YirqJ Tags: Deaths, featured, Hostage, Somali Pirates Section: Africa, Features, Latest News
