Pirates pounce on vessel ferrying dead girl

 By GABRIEL FITO

A BOAT ferrying the body of a young girl from Wewak to Ruprup Island was held up off Turubu on the east coast of Wewak on Wednesday afternoon.

Wewak district administrator Ricky Wobar said five men in a dinghy with 75-horsepower engine pretended to be in need of assistance and signalled the boat over only to rob the vessel.

“The pirates were just about to do something nasty when a mother broke down into tears and begged for mercy as they were only taking the dead to the island for burial,” Wobar said.

“The men, who were armed with bush knives, then let them go after taking a container of fuel.” 

Biem Island elder Caspar Jagur reported another piracy attempt in the same area on one of their village boats yesterday morning.

Jagur said the boat that was loaded with goods and passengers had to abort the trip and return to Wewak when passengers realised that another boat was following it.

Jagur said the islanders had reported the matter to the district administration and police.

They wanted police to free up their only route to the outlying islands.