Families of Mekong River attack victims compensated

Families of 13 Chinese sailors murdered on the Mekong River in 2011 have received compensation, a local court in southwest China's Yunnan Province announced Thursday.

Some 45 plaintiffs of an incidental civil action received a total of 6 million yuan (965,000 U.S. dollars), the Intermediate People's Court of Kunming said.

Myanmar drug lord Naw Kham and his gang members were found to have masterminded and colluded with Thai soldiers in an attack on two Chinese cargo ships -- the Hua Ping and Yu Xing 8 -- on Oct. 5, 2011 on the Mekong River, killing 13 people.

The gang was busted in early 2012 in a joint operation conducted by police from China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, after the brutal murders of the Chinese sailors triggered calls to rein in rampant crime in the border region.

Naw Kham and three of his subordinates were executed last Friday. Another two members of Naw Kham's gang, identified as Zha Bo and Zha Tuobo, received a death sentence with reprieve and eight years in prison, respectively.