British Pirate Captives Beg for Help

A British couple abducted by pirates as they sailed off Africa are pleading for help before they're killed. Rachel Chandler, seized three months ago and held separately from her husband, Paul, in Somalia, begged for aid in a phone call to British TV after the pirates vowed to kill them soon. "They've lost patience. They've set a deadline of 4 days. If they don't hear then, they say they will let us die," she said. "My biggest hope is that I shall see Paul at least once more before we die."

She said she's losing hope in a "very despairing" situation. "It's hard not to feel dying would actually be an easy way out," she added. Paul Chandler also begged for help in a separate call. The couple was seized in full view of a British Royal Navy vessel, which didn't open fire because officials feared the Chandlers would be killed. The pirates were demanding more than $6 million in ransom for the two, but now may be satisfied with $90,000, sources told the Guardian.
(More Rachel Chandler stories.)