Widow accuses BP of ‘inhumane’ response to gas plant terror attack

Systems supervisor Garry Barlow, 49, from Liverpool, died during the siege led by heavily-armed terrorists at the In Amenas gas plant, run as part of a joint venture including BP, in Algeria.

And his widow Lorraine said almost six months after the January attack she still has no idea how her husband was killed and has called for a full investigation to explore what happened. She also told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme one of the most upsetting moments of the four-day siege was watching Prime Minister David Cameron use a television address to warn the nation to prepare for bad news, as she had been given no prior warning.

BP said it remains an unresolved question how the terrorists breached an Algerian military zone and layered security measures and it will take part in the UK police investigation into the murders.

BP added Mr Barlow was employed by Swiss company IOTA and brought in to work at the plant by the joint venture.

When Mrs Barlow was questioned if BP had done enough to address her concerns in the aftermath of the incident, she said: “Not at all – quite the reverse. I’ve been shocked by BP. I expected a lot more of any company with the name British in its title, frankly.

“I just don’t understand why they have actively chosen to distance themselves so far away from us that they feel they just don’t need to communicate with us 
at all. They don’t feel as if they have any responsibility to tell 
us anything. I find it quite shocking and inhumane to the extreme.”