NEW DELHI: An Indian sailor was among five crew members killed aboard a fuel tanker retaken from pirates off the coast of Somalia, his family confirmed on Wednesday, pleading with authorities to help repatriate his remains.

The Palau-flagged MT Honour 25 was seized by pirates off Somalia’s northeastern Puntland region on April 21 with 17 people aboard. It was transporting about 18,500 barrels of oil en route to the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

The Puntland Maritime Police Force, which intercepted the vessel on Tuesday, released a statement in which it said that the pirates killed five members of the ship’s crew “before the government forces launched their operation.” Along with Indian national Mohammed Tanweeruz Zaman, the killed crew members included three Pakistanis and one citizen of Myanmar.

Manoj Yadav, secretary-general of the Forward Seamen’s Union of India, a labor union representing sailors working aboard commercial vessels, told Arab News that the Indian sailor’s family received photographs of his remains on Wednesday.

In a video shared by the FSUI team assisting Zaman’s family, his family members are seen pleading with Indian authorities to help repatriate his body.

“Please bring him back,” his mother says in tears, as another relative appears on the screen: “No matter how, please bring his body. We have already been in distress for the last five months. We want his body anyway. We are really in deep distress.”

Zaman was a cook on board the MT Honour 25.

“He was the only Indian on board from what I understood after seeing the crew list,” Yadav said.

“During the time of hijacking, usually, all seafarers are kept in a confined space, but the cooks are left (free) just to provide meals to all of them, including the hijackers. What made them kill this person … needs to be clarified.”

While Puntland authorities have told the media that the sailors were killed before their rescue operation, the FSUI secretary-general said it needed to be established whether that indeed happened earlier or during the exchange of fire.

“My people are still there with the family in Kolkata, and we are trying to reach out to the other authorities to get more information.”