The fate of “fewer than 10” British nationals caught up in the Algerian hostage crisis remains unknown as the four-day stand-off in the desert came to a bloody climax.
Foreign Secretary William Hague said that while the large majority of Britons at the BP gas plant at In Amenas were now safe, the country needed to be prepared for more “bad news”.
“As of now there are fewer than 10 British nationals at risk or unaccounted for. But that of course means that we continue to prepare ourselves bad news,” he said.
The Algerian state news agency, APS, reported that seven hostages died as Algerian special forces mounted a “final assault” on the last terrorists holding out at the sprawling gas facility.
Eleven of the militants were also reported to have died in the shoot-out.
