Italian prosecutors say ‘hijackers’ on cargo ship were actually asylum seekers

Group stormed by Italian special forces included a pregnant woman and two minors with hypothermia

A group of alleged hijackers on a cargo ship stormed by Italian special forces were in fact malnourished asylum seekers – including a pregnant woman and two minors suffering from hypothermia – who did not represent a threat and sneaked on to the vessel in the hope of reaching Europe, prosecutors in Naples have concluded.

Italy’s far-right defense minister Guido Crosetto announced on Saturday that he had deployed three military ships, dozens of special forces units and two attack helicopters to overpower a group of “pirates” who had attempted to hijack the Turkish vessel.