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Russian sailors abducted off Cameroon coast in satisfactory health condition

A trade union official informed earlier that ransom negotiations were underway

MOSCOW, August 23. /TASS/. /TASS/. The sailors, including three Russian nationals, who were abducted during an attack on the cargo vessel Marmalaita near the Cameroonian port of Douala, are in satisfactory health condition. They have received necessary medicines, a spokesman for Russia’s trade union of sailors told TASS on Friday.

"[The sailors] have been visited by a doctor who examined them and gave medicines. They are in satisfactory condition," the spokesman said.

The Marmalaita cargo ship was attacked by unidentified persons, presumably Nigerian pirates, near the port of Douala late on August 14. According to the Russian foreign ministry, eight crew members, including three Russian nationals, were abducted. The Russian embassy in Cameroon said earlier on Friday the kidnappers were out of touch so far.

A trade union official told TASS earlier that ransom negotiations were underway. According to the official, ship owners typically do not disclose ransom sums. He did not say however whether such a sum had been agreed at the moment.

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