Somali pirates threatened to slaughter the Egyptian fishermen and burn their bodies if the Egyptian government did not pay five-million dollars ransom. Some abducted fishermen had phoned their families in Borg al-Burullus village yesterday. The depressed fishermen said they would be slaughtered if the government did not pay the ransom. Hidaya Ismail Omara, the wife of the abducted Hegazi Saber, said her husband phoned her at 9 am yesterday. He sobbed uncontrollably and said the pirates prevented him and the other 16 abducted fishermen from eating or drinking. He added that they are humiliated and tortured.
Amina Ismail, sister of the abducted Abdel Salam Ismail, said her brother and the other kidnapped fishermen phoned the family and cried: "Save us. The pirates threatened to slaughter us and burn our bodies." She added that her brother called for the intervention of President Mubarak and the officials to end the crisis and preserve the lives of the abducted fishermen.
Zamzam Saad Saber, the wife of the abducted Reda Othman Ghali, said: "The family and the fishermen's relatives have been filled with terror since my husband phoned me. He confirmed that he and his colleagues are subjected to all forms of torture. The pirates prevented them from eating and threatened to kill them."