Her face is gaunt and drawn, her frame skeletal and weak.
The shocking effects of captivity are all too clear in this picture of Rachel Chandler, who has been held by Somali pirates for the last three months.
The image was taken by a French news agency that was allowed to accompany a doctor who examined Mrs Chandler and her husband Paul, who are being held separately.
Photo of Rachel Chandler at a location in central Somalia, where she is being held by pirates
The strain on 56-year-old Mrs Chandler’s face is clearly visible as she sits with her dress hanging loosely from her thin shoulders.
Yesterday she renewed her plea for urgent help, saying: ‘We have not much time left and are being badly treated. Please help us – these people are not treating us well.’
She went on: ‘I’m old, I’m 56, and my husband is 60 years old. We need to be together because we have not much time left. These people are treating us so cruelly.’
This is only the second time Mrs Chandler, an economist, has been seen since she and her husband were kidnapped in October at gunpoint as they sailed in their yacht towards Tanzania.
The last time was in November, when a video taken by the kidnappers – who are demanding a £1.9million ransom – was shown on Channel 4.
Mrs Chandler being examined by Somali doctor Abdi Mohamed Helmi at a location in central Somalia
They have made other pleas for help in desperate phone calls, most recently on January 21, but the physical deterioration in yesterday’s new images are clear.
The Somalian doctor who examined Mrs Chandler said she was suffering a heavy ‘ mental’ toll as well, which was manifested in ‘insomnia’.
Surgeon Mohamed Helmi Hangul, who spent three weeks securing permission to visit the couple, said she was ‘mentally ill’, ‘anxious’, ‘disorientated’ and had been asking repeatedly for her husband.
Mr Chandler also appeared gaunt in the video taken last Thursday but released last night. His ribs could be seen as he lifted his shirt to be checked by the doctor, who reported he had a cough and a fever.
Paul Chandler is examined by the Somali doctor: The pair are being held in separate locations in rugged areas between the coastal village of Elhur and the small town of Amara
Paul Chandler, 60, pleaded for help after admitting the conditions they were being held in were 'difficult'
In the video, filmed by the AFP photographer, Mr Chandler, a retired quantity surveyor, called on the British Government to intervene.
‘We are innocent. We have done no wrong. We have no money and can’t pay a ransom. We just need the Government to help, anyone who can get us out of here,’ he said. ‘Day after day and this is 98 days of solitary confinement, no exercise. I don’t know what to do.’ Mr Chandler finally pleaded: ‘Will somebody please help? The government or somebody else.’
Dr Hangul added he had not been allowed to bring any drugs with him but left a prescription-with the pirates. ‘I gave them some advice and told them, “Your hostages can die. All you want is money so treat them well, let them reunite”,’ he said.
Mrs Chandler’s brother, Stephen Collett, was too distressed to comment last night. A family friend said: ‘This is a highly distressing time for the family. They know the stakes are high and they are in an impossible position. The pirates want an unaffordable ransom and the Government won’t pay it.’
There has been sporadic communication with the Chandlers since they were captured, although this was the first time a journalist had been able to meet them.
Eleven days ago Mr Chandler spoke to ITV news, explaining their captives had ‘set a deadline of three or four days’, after which they expected to them to ‘kill us and abandon us in the desert’. In a separate call, Mrs Chandler said she had been hit with an object she believed was a gun.
A gang member told the Daily Mail last month that the couple, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, would be shot by the end of February if they were not paid a $3million ransom.
The Chandlers are being held in rugged areas between the coastal village of Elhur and the small inland town of Amara but are moved every 48 hours.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband has already insisted the Government will not become involved in any ransom payments.
A Foreign Office spokesman last night said: ‘We are doing everything we can to help secure their release.’
This article was sourced from www.dailymail.co.uk
Tags: Paul and Rachel Chandler, save the chandlers, somali pirates
Do you have a hit counter for your website? I gave money via paypal and have been praying for the Chandlers safety and release. I want so much to see them happy and united. If the pirates are reading this: I believe you are risking your own safety by your threats to harm them and their possible death while under your care. I hear your rivals do not like the jepardy you are putting their much more profitable endevours at sea at risk for being foiled. Please let the Chandlers go and cease attacking private yachts. None to date have been profitable!
Hi Michelle-
I do have a counter on the site but it is not public. I will figure out how to make it public sometime soon. Also, thank you for your donation and words to the pirates. Like you, I hope they are reading this so we can come to a happy ending.
Hi, I’ve donated too. I agree with Michelle that the pirates’ ill-treatment of Paul and Rachel is counterproductive. It is enough that you are holding an innocent and harmless couple, who are in poor health, against their will in uncomfortable conditions. To deliberately mistreat them and deprive them of their one source of comfort (each other) is obscene. I hope you realise that it is in your interest to treat Paul and Rachel well, because they are your only means of getting the money that you want.
I am somalian living in UK for number of years, I am disgusted and ashamed the inhuman condition which Rachel Chandler and her husband Paul Chandler are being held. This is against somali tradition and We are all united against their captivatiy. I am with you the family of rachel chandler and paul chandler and the somali community feel your pain and we hope they will be released soon and will reunite with their family in UK. These individuals have no money and they are not relataed in any shipping business besides they elderly and do not deserve to be treated like this. we pray for their save relaease as soon as possible.
It is shocking that you the Pirates doing this, these are individuals they have not harm anyone as Somali British I am ashamed that you are doing this, please get in touch with your human side they are elderly, they are nice people please return them to us,