At least 12 Chinese crew members were killed and the remaining one was still missing in Thailand yesterday after two Chinese-flagged cargo ships they were onboard were hijacked by armed drug traffickers on Wednesday, a local report said.
According to the Bangkok Post, the remains of the 12 had been recovered from the Mekong River in Chiang Rai's Chiang Saen district.
The report said that the bodies of three Chinese men, with their hands tied and handcuffed behind their backs, were found on Friday, and the other nine bodies, also believed to be Chinese, were found on Saturday.
Local police told the newspaper that most of the nine bodies had also been blindfolded, tied and handcuffed. All remains had been sent to Chiang Saen hospital for autopsies.
In response to the incident, the Foreign Ministry in Beijing ordered the embassy in Thailand and consulate in Chiang Rai to launch all-out searches for the two Chinese nationals who were still missing - one of whom was later found dead - and to investigate the incident, the ministry said on its website.
The Bangkok Post said that all the Chinese men were on board two Chinese-flagged cargo ships, named the Hua Ping and the Yu Xing 8, when they were hijacked by two unknown armed vessels.