Pirate attack off Suriname leaves 16 missing

Sixteen fishermen are missing and feared dead after pirates raided their boats off the coast of Suriname and forced them to jump overboard, the Associated Press reported on Monday.
The fishermen were part of a group of 20 in four boats who were attacked off the Atlantic coast of Suriname, said Commander Jerry Slijngard of the Surinamese Coast Guard according to the news agency.
It was reported that four men managed to swim to shore and three of them remain hospitalised. They told Police and the Coast Guard that the assailants, suspected of coming from neighbouring Guyana because of their accents, beat them with machetes and forced them to jump into the sea. They said some of the victims had batteries tied to their legs to weigh them down.
According to the Associated Press, Coast Guard and Police vessels, along with members of the Fisheries Collective Association, have searched for the missing men and the pirates since the attack late Friday.
“We are still searching the area with family members of the fishermen, hoping for a miracle,” Fisheries Collective Association President Mark Lall is quoted as saying.