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Attackers seize 10 hostages from boat off Cameroon
2008-10-31
PARIS - Armed attackers riding speed boats boarded a tug boat at an oil terminal off the coast of the West African nation of Cameroon early Friday and made off with 10 hostages, the French company that owns the vessel said. The attackers seized six French nationals, two Cameroonians, one Tunisian and one Senegalese, leaving five other crew members on the boat, said Stephanie Elbaz, spokeswoman for maritime services company Bourbon. None of the crew was hurt. The hijackers arrived in three speed boats, she said. She gave no further information about the fate of the 10 hostages, citing a need for discretion. The crew are all employees of Bourbon, she added. The 213-foot (65-meter) Chinese-built tug, the Bourbon Sagitta, was designed for work with the offshore oil industry and is equipped with a firefighting system. It can take 28 crew, according to Bourbon's Web site. The tug was operating in support of an oil tanker that was being loaded with crude, said French oil giant Total. A company spokesman, Paul Florin, said Total owns the buoy the tanker was attached to. He said the attack occurred about 9 miles (15 kilometers) off the Cameroon coast and about 60 miles (100 kilometers) from the border with the neighboring nation of Nigeria. On Wednesday, Bourbon suspended operations in the Bonny River region of Nigeria after armed men boarded one of its boats there. After spending several hours aboard the "Ajax," the men made off with material and crew members' personal property, a statement said. None of the crew was injured in the incident. (This version CORRECTS that tanker was not chartered by Total following new information from the company)
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