Families head to Thailand to identify bodies of killed sailors
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Xinhua, October 12, 2011
Twenty-nine family members of the 12 sailors that were confirmed dead after their ships were hijacked by an unknown group of armed men on the Mekong River on Oct. 5. will leave for Thailand on Thursday to identify the bodies, said local authorities.
Two cargo ships, the Hua Ping and the Yu Xing 8, were attacked in the Golden Triangle area of the Mekong River.
Of the 13 sailors on board, 12 bodies have been retrieved, and Yang Deyi, captain of the Yu Xing 8, remains missing, said officials with Yunnan's Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, where the family members are currently staying.
The families of the deceased sailors from the Hua Ping will each receive 100,000 yuan (15,714 U.S. dollars) in compensation from China Continent Property & Casualty Insurance Company Ltd. As the Yu Xing 8 was registered in Myanmar, the timetable for the families' compensation is not yet available, they said.
Shipping on the Mekong River has been suspended following the attacks. Chinese crew totaling 164 people as well as 28 cargo ships are currently stranded in the Chiang Saen Port, according to an official from the Yunnan provincial government Tuesday.
The Mekong River, known in China as the Lancang River, rises on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and flows through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam before spilling into the South China Sea. It plays a crucial economic role throughout the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) countries.
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