STEVE INSKEEP, Host:
They were killed today. NPR's Frank Langfitt is covering this story. He covers East Africa. He recently returned from a trip to Somalia and he's on the line. Frank, what do you know?
FRANK LANGFITT: Now the U.S. is saying that they responded to gunfire on the boat. They boarded the boat and found all four hostages dead. In the battle they killed two pirates, captured 13. They say altogether about 19 pirates were involved in this. And keep in mind this was a sailboat; it was just about 50-some feet long. So, one of the questions would be - why so many pirates on a sailboat with presumably four unarmed sailors.
INSKEEP: Yeah, and there are other details that are beginning to become a little more clear here. The U.S. military is saying that negotiations were underway with the pirates. The idea that the U.S. Naval flotilla wasn't just following this boat, they were talking with them.
LANGFITT: What's very odd about this is negotiations were going on and usually negotiations last a long time.
INSKEEP: And do you understand the U.S. military to be saying that they - they say they responded to gunfire. Do you have any idea whether this is gunfire directed at the U.S. military or whether what they were hearing was actually the sound...
LANGFITT: The implication - and we're just going on a press release at this time the implication is it was gunfire going on, on the boat, not that they were being shot at. And, you know, these are obviously very big boats. Being shot at from the yacht wouldn't really concern a destroyer. But the implication is they were responding to shooting on the boat and then they found these folks dead.
INSKEEP: So one possibility - and we don't know yet - but one possibility is what they heard was the execution of these four hostages onboard the boat, and...
LANGFITT: That seems to be what's suggested. Again, we're just beginning to get some of the details.
INSKEEP: Now, let's give the names of these four people: Jean and Scott Adam were a couple from California. They'd been sailing around the world, we're told, since December, 2004 with a yacht full of Bibles. There were two other Americans onboard, Phyllis McKay, I believe, and Bob Riggle. They were of Seattle, Washington. They were in the region for some kind of boat rally and sailing with this boatful of Bibles. Is this entirely clear to you though what they were doing in those very dangerous waters, Frank Langfitt?
LANGFITT: Well, I think they were trying to get back. From what I understand from looking at their website - 'cause they had a Web blog, as many yachters do - they were trying to get back from Asia, where they'd been doing all of this Bible work. And the sailing groups had tried to been staying together to get across the Indian Ocean. Of course, they know how dangerous it is and the risks from Somali pirates. So they were trying to stick together. But obviously in this case it didn't work out. Somali pirates are out there in force. They have big motherships, they have fast skiffs, AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades. So certainly a yacht is no match for that kind of competition.
INSKEEP: Frank, thanks very much.
LANGFITT: You're very welcome, Steve.
INSKEEP: You're listening to MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.