Islanders attacked by pirates

Trio held at knifepoint

It's been reported that three local men who were taking part in a sailing race near Tanzania were taken hostage by pirates.

According to the Sun Newscorp Australian network they were captured by a gang of seven men whilst taking part in the Ngalawa Cup racing event near Zanzibar earlier this month.

Chris Shimmin, Taz Ibrahim, 25, and Anthony Gullan, 28, who all work on the Isle of Man, had been in second place in the event, which is a 500km sailing race up the coast of Tanzania.

They were attacked when they had to stop off on a small, isolated island to make repairs, after their wooden sailing vessel was damaged.

The trio were tied up and forced at knifepoint to hand over cash, phones, cameras and clothes.

They managed to escape after their attackers were disturbed by tourists landing on the Island

The trio were raising money for Island charity Wish upon a Dream.