A South Korean sailor from a fishing vessel freed recently from Somali pirates apparently fell to his death from his hotel in Kenya on Wednesday, a foreign ministry official said.

   Kim Yong-hyun, 68, one of the 43 crew members of the Keummi 305 released last week after four months in the hands of Somali pirates, died at 2:25 a.m. Wednesday (local time) apparently after falling from his third-floor hotel room, the official said.

   A security guard at the hotel heard him falling to the ground, the official said.

   Local police launched an investigation to determine the exact cause of Kim's death.

   Kim's body has been moved to a local hospital, he said.

   Kim is one of the two South Koreans among the Keummi's crew that also included two Chinese and 39 Kenyans.

   Pirates released the vessel on Wednesday last week and the vessel entered the port of Mombasa on Tuesday.

(Yonhap News)