Mistaken for pirate,Indian fisherman shot off Oman coast

In what appears to be a case of mistaken identity,crew from a passing foreign cargo ship off the coast of Oman fired upon a group of fishermen,fearing they were pirates,and killed one of them....

In what appears to be a case of mistaken identity,crew from a passing foreign cargo ship off the coast of Oman fired upon a group of fishermen,fearing they were pirates,and killed one of them. Another fisherman was injured in the incident on Monday morning.

Raju Ambrose,34,was declared dead on arrival by doctors at the Sultan Qaboos Hospital in Salalah on the southwestern coast of Oman,said Manpreet Singh,president of the Indian Social Club Salalah. Ambrose,hailing from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala,is survived by his wife,two teenaged daughters and a seven-year-old son.

Apparently,shots were fired without any warning or provocation from the ship at the group of nearly 75 fishermen who had set off from Salalah on 25 boats. Singh said it appears the ships crew mistook the fishermen for pirates.

The crew opened fire indiscriminately at a place called Sarbatat off the coast of Salalah and two people were injured, said Singh. Both the victims were rushed to the Sultan Qaboos Hospital in Salalah but Ambrose was declared as having been brought dead on arrival. The other fisherman,Sebastian,who was on a different boat,was treated and later discharged.

An eyewitness said that by the time the fishermen realised that they were being fired upon,it was too late. We were fishing when we suddenly heard a loud noise that took everyone by surprise, said Joy,who was on the boat with Ambrose.

At first,I thought that the sound was coming from the ship. But later,I realised that people on the ship were firing at us. We go out into the deep sea quite often,but such an incident has never happened. In fact,we wave at all the ships that pass by the area.

Joy added that the fishermen tried to steer the boat away,but in vain. All of a sudden,a bullet hit Raju and he fell overboard. The other fisherman on the boat,Francis,and I managed to pull him out of the water and then we fled for our lives. We took him to the shore with the help of other fishermen and from there to the Sultan Qaboos Hospital,but it was too late.

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Many cargo ships on the high seas off the Horn of Africa have opted for armed protection after a spate of attacks and hijacks by pirates based in Somalia for ransom.

(Courtesy: Muscat Daily)