KOTTAYAM: Malloosserry Koikkal Hari C Nair still cannot believe that he is alive after being released by Somalian pirates after spending 11 months in captivity. “I never dreamt that I will live to see this day. This is a second birth for me. I never thought I would come out alive,” Hari told reporters at his residence in Chungam here on Tuesday. “It all feels like a miracle. It is the holy intervention due to the prayers of my family and friends,” he said. His relatives and friends gathered in good numbers to welcome him around 6.30 am. His relatives and friends hugged him, while some shook hands. The oil tanker in which Hari worked was hijacked on February 8, 2011, by pirates armed with AK-47s and rocket launchers near Socotra Island, from where it was taken to the Somalian coast. The hostages, including 22 Indians, were later shifted to a mother ship.Hari described the days spent constantly under vigil of gun-totting pirates. ‘Every breath was taken in fear. Now I can sleep for long hours peacefully. The abductors gave us one bun for breakfast, one ladle of gruel for lunch and a ladle of plain rice for dinner. One-and-a-half litres of water a day was given for drinking and other purposes. The first three months were okay. But things turned bad quickly. The last five months in a dingy, hot room were unbearable. By God’s grace no one fell ill,” he said. A Pakistani played the key role in the negotiations for his release, he said. Hari feels sorry for the 70 Indian hostages in 11 ships which are anchored off the Somalian coast for the past 19 months. Hari took up the job seven years back. He boarded the ship on September 27, 2010, with the idea of returning home in February.
Comments
0 comment