Four Americans—Scott and Jean Adam, who were delivering Bibles around the world, and two friends, Phylis Macay and Bob Riggle (pictured)—were hijacked by Somali pirates last Friday while sailing in a yacht off the coast of Oman. Now, they're all dead. According to CBS News, a US Navy ship that was tracking the yacht heard gunshots, and proceeded to "seize" the vessel.

All 4 Americans were dead, killed apparently by their captors.

There were more than a dozen pirates on board, some dead and others captured, Martin reports.

UPDATE: The US Navy has released an official statement on the incident, which says the pirates killed their captives before US forces boarded the ship. It reads in part:

At approximately 1 a.m. EST today, while negotiations were ongoing to secure the release of four American hostages, U.S. forces responded to gunfire aboard the pirated vessel (S/V) Quest.

As they responded to the gunfire, reaching and boarding the Quest, the forces discovered all four hostages had been shot by their captors. Despite immediate steps to provide life-saving care, all four hostages ultimately died of their wounds...

During the boarding of the Quest, the reaction force was engaged by pirates on board the vessel. Two pirates died during the confrontation and 13 were captured and detained along with two pirates already in US Forces custody. The US Forces also found the remains of two other pirates already dead aboard the Quest. In total, it is believed 19 pirates were involved in the hijacking of the S/V Quest.

[Photo: AP]