The U.S. military says all four Americans aboard a yacht hijacked by Somali pirates have been killed by their captors.
The U.S. Central Command released a statement saying U.S. forces heard gunfire aboard the SV Quest while trying to negotiate the hostages' release Tuesday.
It says a reaction force boarded the hijacked vessel to discover all four hostages had been shot by the pirates. Despite immediate medical care, the four Americans died of their wounds.
The military says two pirates were killed during a confrontation with the U.S. boarding force, and that another 13 pirates were captured and detained. Two other pirates already had been in U.S. custody.
The U.S. Central Command says the boarding team also found remains of two other pirates who had died earlier.
Pirates hijacked the SV Quest Friday in the Indian Ocean. U.S. forces had been trailing the ship as it headed toward the coast of Somalia.
Media reports have identified the four Americans as ship owners Scott and Jean Adam of Marina del Rey, California, and Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle of Seattle, Washington.
