One killed, several kidnapped as Liberia – flagged ship attack ship off African coast

Armed pirates have attacked a Turkish cargo ship off the West African coast, kidnapping 15 sailors and killing one of them, officials said.

The Liberian-flagged M/V Mozart was sailing from Lagos, Nigeria, to Cape Town in South Africa when it was attacked 100 nautical miles north-west of the island nation of Sao Tome and Principe.

Turkey’s Maritime Directorate said the crew initially locked themselves in a safe area but the pirates forced entry after six hours. During the struggle, one crew member aboard died.

Officials identified the victim as engineer Farman Ismayilov of Azerbaijan, the only non-Turkish crew member.

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