Dozens of Chinese sailors returned home Sunday under the escort of a Chinese patrol ship after being stranded in northern Thailand following a deadly cargo ship attack last week.

A total of 11 cargo boats with 78 sailors on board began sailing into the Guanlei Port in the Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Xishuangbanna in the southwestern province of Yunnan at around 3:40 p.m.

They were greeted by crowds of anxious people, including their relatives, colleagues, local officials and residents. Firecrackers were set off in celebration, and banners reading "Welcome home!" and "Welcome back to the motherland!" were displayed along with national flags.

They embraced their relatives tightly in tears as soon as they stepped on the Chinese soil.

"We were very scared when we heard that our compatriots had been killed, and we did not dare to come back home by waterway at first," said a sailor surnamed Wu from the boat Jinshui 12.

"We are back at last! Thank the nation! Thank the government!" he said.

"The news photos showing the sailors' bodies floating on the river had frightened me a lot. I had been very worried that similar incidents would happen again," said Guo Dingxian, the wife of a sailor from the Xiding 8 boat.

"I was happy to see our patrol boat going to Thailand to escort the sailors back. The motherland has given us strong support," she said.

Twelve Chinese sailors were confirmed dead and one missing after two cargo ships, the Hua Ping and Yu Xing 8, were attacked and hijacked by an unknown group of armed men on October 5 on the Mekong River.

Out of safety concerns, 164 sailors had been living aboard 26 ships on the Mekong River in Chiang Saen since the attack.

The other 15 ships and 86 sailors are heading to the Guanlei Port and will arrive there later.

The sailors left Chiang Saen for China Friday morning under the protection of patrol vessels dispatched by Yunnan's local police bureau.

China also asked the governments of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar to protect the sailors and ships, ensuring them a safe trip home.

China on Thursday demanded swift action from the three Southeastern Asian nations in preventing additional attacks on Chinese nationals on the Mekong River.

Vice Foreign Minister Song Tao summoned diplomatic envoys from the three countries and urged the countries to intensify their investigations on the deadly attack.

"To see the police patrol boat was like to see the savior after we spent many days in torment in Thailand. We could finally have good meals and good sleep on the way back home," said Li Minglu, a sailor from the Baoshou 9 boat who first reported the attack to the Thai police.

"I have been shocked and sad to see our compatriot killed. But I am also very proud that our country is strong and we have the capability to escort our stranded sailors back home safely," said Xi Yongqing, a maritime affairs official in Guanlei Port who joined in the escort mission.

The Mekong River, known in China as the Lancang River, rises on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and flows through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam before spilling into the South China Sea. It plays a crucial economic role throughout the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS).

(Xinhua News Agency October 16, 2011)