Hijackers of Malaysian tanker escape, crewman shot

Kuala Lumpur

PIRATES who commandeered a Malaysian-flagged tanker in the South China Sea for a week have escaped from the vessel in a lifeboat, giving warships the slip under cover of night, the country's naval commander said on Friday.

Royal Malaysian Navy chief Admiral Abdul Aziz Jaafar also said that the 22 crew members of the MT Orkim Harmony were unscathed except for an Indonesian seamen who was being treated for a gunshot wound to the thigh. "All eight robbers escaped by using the MT Orkim Harmony's lifeboats," he said, adding that Malaysian naval and coast guard assets were now searching for the pirates near Indonesia's Natuna Islands.