Greek coast guard agents kill gunman, free yacht hostages

ATHENS (Reuters) -- A hostage drama on board a charter yacht off Greece ended abruptly Wednesday when coast guard agents shot dead a gunman who had been threatening to kill a Swiss couple and their three children.

The hostages -- the five Swiss tourists and the Greek captain of the boat -- were all freed safely.

Merchant Marine Ministry officials said a coast guard sniper shot the gunman and then divers stormed the small vessel.

"The gunman is dead, everyone else is safe," said a ministry spokesman. Officials later said a coast guard officer had been injured, but there were no details.

Coast guard officials said the Swiss couple and their children were found locked in the cabins. The yacht was being escorted to the port of Agios Andreas on the Peloponnese.

The hijacker, described by officials as unstable, had seized the holiday charter yacht at gunpoint off the southern Greek town of Naflpio early Wednesday.

He had threatened to shoot the family and the captain, Aristidis Kalofis, unless he was taken to the Moroccan port city of Casablanca.

Authorities said he had appeared agitated, pacing frantically on the yacht and waving his arms in the air.

The Swiss family had hired the small sailboat for a tour of the region off the southern Greek town of Nafplio.

Friends of the captain told the coast guard that the family, which had also visited Greece last year, was wrapping up a vacation and planning to go home soon.

Coast guard officials in Nafplio said the boat, the Erato, was about three nautical miles off the Peloponnese coast in the Argolis Bay when the operation took place.

The coast guard approached the sailboat three times and tried to convince the gunman to give up but moved away after he threatened to shoot the hostages, officials said.

The unidentified man appeared shortly after the yacht left port and threatened the captain with a gun, demanding to be taken to Morocco. His nationality was not known.

A government official said there were some reports that he was speaking English and said he was of European origin. It was not immediately clear how he boarded the boat.

The owner-captain was the yacht's sole crew, coast guard officials said.

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