TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Family of Muhammad Sofyan, one the tugboat Charles crew captured by militant group Abu Sayyaf in the southern Philippines, expressed their gratitude after knowing that he had escaped from the hostage situation.

"I was happy and prostrated [myself] to God in gratitude," Sofyan's wife Sri Dewi, 21, told Tempo on Wednesday, August 17, 2016.

Sri admitted that he heard the news and continuously expressed her gratitude.

Sri revealed that Sofyan, 27, has been a sailor for a year. The alumni of the Sailing Education and Training Center and the Sailing Academy of Barombong, Makassar, did not immediately join as a crew member after his graduation.

Sri said that two years after his graduation, Sofyan went to East Kalimantan and joined the TB Charles.

"I hadn't heard from him until I saw news about the hostage situation," Sri added.

Sri hopes that Sofyan would return to Indonesia after being held as a hostage for two months.

Earlier, Sofyan was reported to escape from Abu Sayyaf's captivity. Foreign Ministry's Indonesian citizen protection director Muhammad Iqbal confirmed the report. Sofyan is currently under Sulu Police's protection in Philippine. The Indonesian Foreign Ministry had sent a team through the Indonesian Embassy in Manila and the Indonesian Consulate General in Davao.

Sofyan was found by residents living in the Barangay Bual coast, Luuk Town at 7:30 AM local time Sofyan said that he had escaped after the Abu Sayyaf group threatened him with decapitation.

Sofyan was one of seven Charles crew members held as hostages on June 21, 2016. The government is monitoring the hostage situation through communications between the kidnappers and hostage families, as well as with TB Charles owner company PT Rusianto Bersaudara.

ABDUL RAHMAN