‘Ten Britons’ remain trapped at desert gas plant in hostage crisis

David Cameron yesterday vowed that Britain would do “everything we can to hunt down” those responsible, as a number of British employees who had escaped the hostage crisis at the desert plant appeared on Algerian state television to voice their fears over those they had left behind.

Yesterday it was reported that nearly 100 hostages had been freed following the Algerian military operation, putting the total originally seized by the militants at 132.

Mr Cameron, who yesterday chaired two meetings of the Government’s emergency committee Cobra, also publicly expressed his frustration that he had not been pre-warned of the special forces assault, in which some foreign workers died.

It was reported that two UK workers were among the 12 hostage fatalities during the operation by Algerian forces to reclaim the facility, which would bring the British death toll to three after one was killed in Wednesday’s initial raid by Islamist militants.

The Foreign Office sent a plane carrying crisis staff to a site near the facility amid continued efforts by joint operator BP and the Government to evacuate UK workers.