Dozen fishermen feared dead after pirate attack off Suriname

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A dozen fishermen from Guyana are missing and feared dead after being attacked by pirates last week off the coast of Suriname.

Four men who managed to escape the attack raised the alarm after swimming back to shore.

The bodies of three of the men have since been recovered, according to Suriname authorities. Search efforts meanwhile continued for the remaining fishermen, who were now feared dead.

Rescue efforts were hampered by unfavorable sea conditions, the director of Suriname's national disaster management center, Jerry Slijngard, was quoted as saying by Deutsche Welle.

Altogether, 19 fishermen were believed to have set off last Friday in four boats.

Survivors recounted that the pirates forced them to jump into the sea, some of them with weights attached to their legs, media reports said.

On Thursday, Guyana’s President David Granger deplored the attack, calling is "a setback" in efforts to combat piracy in the region.

"It is a great massacre, a great tragedy," he was also quoted as saying by BBC News.

Piracy has been a long-standing problem off the northern coast of Latin America, around Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela.

On Wednesday, another fishing boat was attacked in the waters off Suriname. The captain was shot dead but the rest of the crew survived, a fishermen’s association said.

Slijngard said the victims' families will receive support from the government.

The government has also come under fire however for its limited response, with President Desi Bouterse yet to speak out about the attack.

(With input from wire agencies)

(Top picture: A maritime policeman guards an oil tanker after it was released by pirates in Bosasso, Somalia's semi-autonomous region of Puntland, March 19, 2017. /VCG Photo)

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