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| Algeria hostage crisis: survivors tell of cold-blooded killers | Algeria hostage crisis: survivors tell of cold-blooded killers |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| The extremist gunmen who took over the In Amenas gas field last week used a British hostage to draw other foreigners out of hiding, it emerged on Monday. | The extremist gunmen who took over the In Amenas gas field last week used a British hostage to draw other foreigners out of hiding, it emerged on Monday. |
| An Algerian survivor called Chabene told journalists that the hostage was held at gunpoint and "they threatened him until he called his friend in English saying: 'Come out, come out, they're not going to kill you. They're looking for Americans'… A few minutes later, they killed him." | An Algerian survivor called Chabene told journalists that the hostage was held at gunpoint and "they threatened him until he called his friend in English saying: 'Come out, come out, they're not going to kill you. They're looking for Americans'… A few minutes later, they killed him." |
| The chilling scene emerged as one of a number of accounts of the Algerian hostage ordeal that underlined the cold-blooded nature of the militant operation which appeared to have been planned with inside knowledge of the gas facility and which appears to have been focused on killing foreigners. | The chilling scene emerged as one of a number of accounts of the Algerian hostage ordeal that underlined the cold-blooded nature of the militant operation which appeared to have been planned with inside knowledge of the gas facility and which appears to have been focused on killing foreigners. |
| A Norwegian worker gave an account of the first attack, at 5am on Wednesday morning, on a bus taking him and other westerners to the airport. He told Norwegian journalists he had the impression the jihadist group was heading for the gas plant and was taken by surprise when they ran into the bus and its police escort, which fired back when the attack began. | A Norwegian worker gave an account of the first attack, at 5am on Wednesday morning, on a bus taking him and other westerners to the airport. He told Norwegian journalists he had the impression the jihadist group was heading for the gas plant and was taken by surprise when they ran into the bus and its police escort, which fired back when the attack began. |
| "The bullets came in waves," the unnamed worker from Bergen said. The workers lay on the floor of the bus until an Algerian soldier arrived and led them to safety. "We crawled 100 metres through the desert to a military post. We were shot at the whole way," he said. | "The bullets came in waves," the unnamed worker from Bergen said. The workers lay on the floor of the bus until an Algerian soldier arrived and led them to safety. "We crawled 100 metres through the desert to a military post. We were shot at the whole way," he said. |
| The attackers then split into two groups, one going to the main gas plant, the other heading for the living quarters two miles away. | The attackers then split into two groups, one going to the main gas plant, the other heading for the living quarters two miles away. |
| Abdelkader, an Algerian BP employee in his 40s, was at a guard post when a jeep with seven people inside smashed through the barrier and came to a sudden halt. He said the gunmen got out of the vehicle, ordered the guards not to move, took their mobile phones and disabled security cameras. | Abdelkader, an Algerian BP employee in his 40s, was at a guard post when a jeep with seven people inside smashed through the barrier and came to a sudden halt. He said the gunmen got out of the vehicle, ordered the guards not to move, took their mobile phones and disabled security cameras. |
| Abdelkader told reporters that one gunman told him: "You are Algerians and Muslims, you have nothing to fear. We're looking for Christians, who kill our brothers in Mali and Afghanistan and plunder our resources." He said the militants shot one of the guards in the foot and led the others inside the plant. Abdelkader said he was freed after telling the gunmen he was a father of four. | Abdelkader told reporters that one gunman told him: "You are Algerians and Muslims, you have nothing to fear. We're looking for Christians, who kill our brothers in Mali and Afghanistan and plunder our resources." He said the militants shot one of the guards in the foot and led the others inside the plant. Abdelkader said he was freed after telling the gunmen he was a father of four. |
| His account is one of several that suggest the attackers were extremely well informed about the plant's layout. According to Riad, an employee of Japanese engineering company JGC, the jihadists appeared to know camp procedures and the sections of the living quarters run by BP and JGC, where most of the foreigners lived, even those foreigners' room numbers. "They had accomplices on the inside," said Riad. | His account is one of several that suggest the attackers were extremely well informed about the plant's layout. According to Riad, an employee of Japanese engineering company JGC, the jihadists appeared to know camp procedures and the sections of the living quarters run by BP and JGC, where most of the foreigners lived, even those foreigners' room numbers. "They had accomplices on the inside," said Riad. |
| He described how the Japanese workers were then hunted down and killed. "A terrorist shouted, 'Open the door!' with a strong North American accent and opened fire. Two other Japanese died then and we found four other Japanese bodies," Riad was quoted as saying on French news websites. | He described how the Japanese workers were then hunted down and killed. "A terrorist shouted, 'Open the door!' with a strong North American accent and opened fire. Two other Japanese died then and we found four other Japanese bodies," Riad was quoted as saying on French news websites. |
| "They were brutally executed," said another Algerian worker who identified himself only as Brahim, who also witnessed the killing of the Japanese contractors. | "They were brutally executed," said another Algerian worker who identified himself only as Brahim, who also witnessed the killing of the Japanese contractors. |
| A JGC spokesman, Takeshi Endo, passed on an account from an unnamed Japanese survivor to the Daily Yomiuri newspaper. He had been one of several workers about to leave the living quarters in a bus convoy at dawn on Wednesday morning when the first attack took place and the bus ahead of his was hit by intense gunfire. His driver braked and jerked the bus into reverse in an attempt to flee, but a wheel snapped off and the passengers fled across the desert back to their cabins. | A JGC spokesman, Takeshi Endo, passed on an account from an unnamed Japanese survivor to the Daily Yomiuri newspaper. He had been one of several workers about to leave the living quarters in a bus convoy at dawn on Wednesday morning when the first attack took place and the bus ahead of his was hit by intense gunfire. His driver braked and jerked the bus into reverse in an attempt to flee, but a wheel snapped off and the passengers fled across the desert back to their cabins. |
| According to Endo, the JGC employee was only in his room for a short time when the militants shot off the lock and dragged him out and handcuffed him. He was marched to a bright room where other hostages had been rounded up and the militants began speaking to Algerian workers in Arabic. Without warning, there was a burst of gunfire and two hostages alongside him fell to the floor dead. | According to Endo, the JGC employee was only in his room for a short time when the militants shot off the lock and dragged him out and handcuffed him. He was marched to a bright room where other hostages had been rounded up and the militants began speaking to Algerian workers in Arabic. Without warning, there was a burst of gunfire and two hostages alongside him fell to the floor dead. |
| "I was prepared to die," Endo quoted the employee as saying. | "I was prepared to die," Endo quoted the employee as saying. |
| He and a Filipino colleague were then bundled into a pickup truck and driven off towards the gas plant, but the vehicle was sprayed with bullets as Algerian special forces opened fire, shattering the windscreen and forcing the hostages to lie on the floor. Their captors fled and the Japanese worker lay under the vehicle for two hours before darkness fell and he made a run for freedom across the desert, where he stumbled upon Algerian soldiers. | He and a Filipino colleague were then bundled into a pickup truck and driven off towards the gas plant, but the vehicle was sprayed with bullets as Algerian special forces opened fire, shattering the windscreen and forcing the hostages to lie on the floor. Their captors fled and the Japanese worker lay under the vehicle for two hours before darkness fell and he made a run for freedom across the desert, where he stumbled upon Algerian soldiers. |
| One of the Filipino workers at the site, Ruben Andrada, who appears to have been in the same vehicle as the Japanese JGC worker, said he was made to wear explosives on his body "like a necklace" before being herded on to the truck that appeared to be heading to the gas plant when it came under fire from Algerian soldiers. | One of the Filipino workers at the site, Ruben Andrada, who appears to have been in the same vehicle as the Japanese JGC worker, said he was made to wear explosives on his body "like a necklace" before being herded on to the truck that appeared to be heading to the gas plant when it came under fire from Algerian soldiers. |
| Most vehicles in the convoy exploded and Andrada thinks the reason he survived is that the explosives in his vehicle failed to detonate. He lay in the wreckage with a gunshot wound in his right arm for two hours until he was rescued. | Most vehicles in the convoy exploded and Andrada thinks the reason he survived is that the explosives in his vehicle failed to detonate. He lay in the wreckage with a gunshot wound in his right arm for two hours until he was rescued. |
| Speaking from his hospital bed in Algiers, he commended the Algerian troops for stopping the jihadist convoy. "I'm grateful for what they did," Andrada said in a telephone interview with al-Jazeera YV. "The [Algerian] defence minister came to see me and apologised for what happened. I said it is quite understandable, as it has to end here in Algeria and not spread into other countries." | Speaking from his hospital bed in Algiers, he commended the Algerian troops for stopping the jihadist convoy. "I'm grateful for what they did," Andrada said in a telephone interview with al-Jazeera YV. "The [Algerian] defence minister came to see me and apologised for what happened. I said it is quite understandable, as it has to end here in Algeria and not spread into other countries." |
| Two French survivors described how they had managed to survive by hiding in the sprawling facility. Murielle, a nurse, told Europe 1 radio that as soon the attack started, she made the connection with the conflict in neighbouring Mali, where French forces had launched offensive against Islamic militants. | Two French survivors described how they had managed to survive by hiding in the sprawling facility. Murielle, a nurse, told Europe 1 radio that as soon the attack started, she made the connection with the conflict in neighbouring Mali, where French forces had launched offensive against Islamic militants. |
| "I told myself they mustn't find me as I'm a woman and I'm French. With what's going on in Mali, it's better they don't catch me," she said. "At best, I'll get a bullet in the head. At worst, as a woman … I don't have to draw you a picture." | "I told myself they mustn't find me as I'm a woman and I'm French. With what's going on in Mali, it's better they don't catch me," she said. "At best, I'll get a bullet in the head. At worst, as a woman … I don't have to draw you a picture." |
| Her Algerian co-workers told her the jihadists were going from room to room breaking down doors looking for foreigners, but somehow overlooked the corner of the living quarters where she and three colleagues were hiding. | Her Algerian co-workers told her the jihadists were going from room to room breaking down doors looking for foreigners, but somehow overlooked the corner of the living quarters where she and three colleagues were hiding. |
| The four discussed whether to carrying on hiding or to try to escape across the desert. "I told them we had to take our chance. You can't submit to them, otherwise you are giving in to the terrorists," Murielle said. | The four discussed whether to carrying on hiding or to try to escape across the desert. "I told them we had to take our chance. You can't submit to them, otherwise you are giving in to the terrorists," Murielle said. |
| It was only when the jihadists announced over the public address system that they were going to blow up the site that her colleagues were convinced. They dressed in work clothes and caps to blend in with a group of 26 Algerians and, at 7am on Thursday morning, Murielle used a pair of bolt cutters kept on board an ambulance to snip through the camp's perimeter fence. | It was only when the jihadists announced over the public address system that they were going to blow up the site that her colleagues were convinced. They dressed in work clothes and caps to blend in with a group of 26 Algerians and, at 7am on Thursday morning, Murielle used a pair of bolt cutters kept on board an ambulance to snip through the camp's perimeter fence. |
| The group then ran across the desert. "Out there, we saw some men in uniform in the distance. They could have been terrorists. We just didn't know. Either they were going to kill me on the spot or put me on a pickup to take me back to the site," she said. They turned out to be soldiers. | The group then ran across the desert. "Out there, we saw some men in uniform in the distance. They could have been terrorists. We just didn't know. Either they were going to kill me on the spot or put me on a pickup to take me back to the site," she said. They turned out to be soldiers. |
| "To find out that all those who stayed behind were murdered is hard," she said. "I am devastated. I'm in a really bad way. I will never forget them." | "To find out that all those who stayed behind were murdered is hard," she said. "I am devastated. I'm in a really bad way. I will never forget them." |
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