Italian ship fires on fishing boat off Indian coast

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India's navy revealed today that an Italian cargo ship had fired at a fishing boat off the coast of southern India, killing two fishermen.

In a statement, the navy said the ship thought the fishermen were pirates.

The Indian coast guard and navy are now questioning the captain and crew of the ship, identified as the Enrica Lexie, about yesterday's incident.

The owner of the Indian fishing vessel has said the firing was unprovoked. He said the boat was fishing in Indian waters close to the Kerala coast when the Italian ship opened fire, killing the two fishermen. Nine other fishermen onboard survived.