Somali pirates kill four Americans

MOGADISHU, Somalia, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- U.S. Vice Adm. Mark Fox said Tuesday some of the four hostages aboard a yacht seized by Somali pirates were alive when U.S. commandos boarded the vessel.

All four, however, died of their wounds in what was described as the bloodiest piracy incident in recent memory, Fox told reporters in a telephone briefing from his headquarters in Manama, Bahrain.

Fox, the commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command for the U.S. Navy 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces, said four pirates also were killed, three by gunfire and one in hand-to-hand combat with a knife. Fifteen pirates are in U.S. custody.

The Quest, owned by Scott and Jean Adams of Southern California, was commandeered by pirates Friday about 200 miles off Oman. Four U.S. Navy warships were dispatched to recover the vessel and began shadowing it. Contact was made with the pirates and negotiations with two of them began Monday aboard the Guided Missile Destroyer Sterett.

"At 8 this morning local time, a rocket-propelled grenade was fired from the Quest by the pirates towards the Sterett. The Sterett was approximately 600 yards away from the Quest," Fox said. "Immediately thereafter, gunfire also erupted inside the cabin of the Quest. Several pirates appeared on deck and moved up to the bow with their hands in the air in surrender."

Fox said a Special Operations team was sent to board the vessel and found the four hostages dead or dying. Two pirates also were dead and two more were killed as the commandos were clearing the vessel.

The other two U.S. victims were identified as Phyllis Mackay and Bob Riggle of Seattle, who were traveling around the world aboard the Quest when it was hijacked.

"The loss of our fellow Americans is a tragedy," Fox said from his headquarters in Manama, Bahrain.

White House press secretary Jay Carney said President Obama was notified Tuesday morning about "the tragic outcome of that event."

During the weekend, Obama authorized the use of force in case there was "an imminent threat to those hostages," Carney said.