The eight Egyptian sailors who were kidnapped aboard the oil tanker \u201cM\/T Eureka\u201d arrived at Cairo Airport on Sunday evening, coming from the Somali capital, Mogadishu, after nearly five months in captivity. The sailors\u2019 families welcomed their returning loved ones amid an atmosphere filled with a mixture of joy and tears, following the end of a long ordeal they endured far from their homeland.<\/p>\n
Their return came after intensive diplomatic and security efforts led by the Egyptian state in recent weeks, aimed at ensuring their safety and securing their release. The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration announced on September 30 that the crisis involving the sailors\u2019 detention had officially been resolved and that their return to Egypt had been secured.<\/p>\n
The details of the crisis date back to May 2, when the oil tanker \u201cM\/T Eureka\u201d was attacked by pirates off the Yemeni coast. After taking control of the vessel, the kidnappers took the crew members to the coast of Puntland in northeastern Somalia, where the eight sailors remained in captivity for nearly five months before Egyptian efforts succeeded in securing their release and returning them safely to their families.<\/p>\n
Previously, the sailors recounted some of the suffering they endured during their kidnapping. Sailor \u201cSameh Abdel Azim\u201d said that what they went through was like \u201cscenes from horror movies,\u201d explaining that the pirates suddenly attacked the vessel in early May without prior warning.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbdel Azim\u201d added that the crew members endured harsh days marked by hunger, insults, and a lack of water, and that they would wake up every day to the sound of gunfire, which at times led them to believe that they might never see their families again.<\/p>\n
For his part, sailor \u201cAhmed Mahmoud\u201d revealed that the pirates used the crew members as leverage to obtain a financial ransom, noting that they allowed the sailors to communicate with their families in order to pressure them to provide the required money, which increased feelings of fear and anxiety among the captives and their families.<\/p>\n
\u201cMahmoud\u201d pointed out that the state of despair at some stages led the sailors to consider confronting the armed pirates and attempting to free themselves, despite their awareness of the danger of taking such a step against heavily armed men.<\/p>\n
Regarding the final hours before their release, \u201cAbdel Azim\u201d explained that the sailors were forced to descend from a mountainous area before a landing operation was carried out and Somali special forces intervened in coordination with the kidnappers.<\/p>\n
He added that they did not realize what was actually happening until they were informed that they were free and would be returning to Egypt, bringing to an end a five-month-long period of captivity.<\/p>\n
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