National
Pirates say ransom has been paid and Alakrana crew are being freed
By m.p. - Nov 17, 2009 - 1:10 PM
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Some of the Alakrana's crew - EFE archive
There has been no confirmation as yet from the Spanish government
The pirates who have been holding the crew of the Basque tuna trawler, the ‘Alakrana’ hostage for 47 days have told Reuters that they have begun to leave the vessel this Tuesday after a ransom of 4 million dollars was paid. It’s the equivalent of around of 2.3 million €.
The 36 crew were also leaving the boat, according to the information quoted by the news agency. It’s understood the Spanish Navy frigate ‘Canarias’ was nearby.
The Partido Popular spokeswoman in Congress, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, said the Prime Minister, José Luís Rodríguez Zapatero, had already telephoned her party chief, Mariano Rajoy, to inform him of the possible release of the trawler. The government has yet to confirm if the Alakrana and its crew have been freed, but details are expected from the Prime Minister in a press conference to be held within the hour.
There was news earlier on Tuesday that one of the pirates had announced the crew were to be freed on Wednesday once the ransom had been handed over.
(This story will be updated)