SOME of the 23 crew members who had been hijacked and detained by pirates for 1,000 days arrived in Kenya at the weekend.

Seven of the crew members of the Panama flagged roll/roll ship Iceberg 1 were expected to fly out of Nairobi yesterday morning heading to their mother land.

According to Andrew Mwangura, the Seafarers Union of Kenya Secretary General, other crew members comprised of two Pakistanis, five Indians and eight Yemenis, flew back to their respective countries over the weekend from Bossaso.

Mwangura, who spoke to them on the phone when they arrived at the Jomo Kenya International Airport in Nairobi yesterday, said the seven crew members comprised of four Ghanaians, two Sudanese and one Filipino.

"They told me that three crew members of the vessel were seriously injured during the 14-day rescue mission carried out by Punt land Marine Forces," said Mwangura.

Narrating their ordeal in the hands of their captors, the crew members said three pirates and one security officer were shot dead in the rescue mission.

During the mission, three pirates were arrested and several others escaped with bullet wounds. Injured crew members included a Pakistani, a Ghanaian and Indian.

"The injured Pakistani crew was shot on his buttocks while the Indian suffered bullet wounds on his leg making it very difficult for him to walk or move around," Mwangura disclosed."