The Italian government has agreed to pay 10 million rupees (200,000 U.S. dollars) to families of each of the two fishermen who were allegedly killed by Italian security guards on board an oil tanker off the southern Indian coast in February, said local media reports Friday.
A team consisting of the Italian defense minister and officials of that country’s foreign affairs department has talked with the lawyers representing the families of the two dead fishermen, Valentine Jelestine and Ajeesh Pink, who died in the incident in which Italy said was caused by a threat of a piracy attack off the Kerala coast on Feb. 15, according to the Times of India electronic edition.
By Thursday afternoon, Italian authorities and the dependents of the victims reached final decision to settle the compensation claims, said the newspaper.
Two Indian marines, Latorre Massimiliano and Salvatore Girone, have been detained by police since the incident which triggered a mini-diplomatic row between New Delhi and Rome.
2012 Xinhua, english.news.cn