Italian ship crew kills 2 fishermen off Kerala coast

Two fishermen were killed when a navy security team on an Italian merchant vessel opened fire on a boat it mistook for pirates at sea off the coast of Kerala, officials said on Thursday.

A case of murder has been registered against the crew, said a senior official at Neendakara Coastal police station, where surviving fishermen sought help.

Italy's ambassador was summoned to a meeting with a senior official at the Foreign Office to explain what had happened on Wednesday night. The ambassador was asked to ensure the crew of the ship cooperate with Indian authorities, a Foreign Ministry official said.

"Our understanding is we know these are fisherman who were fired upon and two of them were killed. This was in Indian territorial waters," the official, who declined to be named, told Reuters. "Their understanding seems to be that it was pirates and so shot at them mistakenly or otherwise."

Italy's Navy said the fishing boat had approached the Napoli-registered vessel Enrica Lexie in an aggressive manner.

"The Navy security team on the Enrica Lexie intervened to avert an attempted attack by armed personnel from another vessel," a Navy press release said.

"The Navy team on the mercantile ship used standard procedures. The fishing vessel distanced itself after the third series of warning shots that were made without evident damage to the vessel."