Algerian hostage crisis : Slaughter in the Sahara: "We cut the fence and ran for our lives" says survivor of the Algerian hostage crisis

The death toll has risen to 81 with three Britons dead and three more feared dead - 22 UK hostages have flown home


Great escape: Alan Wright with his wife Karlyn Newsline
A survivor of the Algerian hostage crisis spoke yesterday of his “Great Escape” after hiding from the bloody gun battle – as the death toll climbed to 81.

He made a run for it into the desert after colleagues cut the wire compound fence.

And 37-year-old health and safety adviser Alan Wright said he was only alive because he had arranged a last minute change of shift.

Normally he would have been in the buses attacked outside the gas plant.

As survivors flew home yesterday, PM David Cameron confirmed three Britons had died, a further three are feared dead along with one foreign national who lives in the UK.

Twenty two UK hostages have now been flown home.

Algerian officials said that of the 81 fatalities, 32 militants and 23 hostages had been counted.

The remainder of bodies discovered yesterday were too disfigured to identify immediately.

Among those feared dead is Garry Barlow, 49, from Liverpool, a systems supervisor at the plant.

Last night five militants were captured alive by Algerian special forces as it was claimed some of the terrorists had got jobs at the gas plant to plan the attack.

Victim: A body lies covered at the plant
AP

Back in the UK, survivor Alan hugged 31-year-old wife Karlyn as they re-lived the worst 72 hours of their lives.

BP had posted Alan as missing during the ordeal, but he had managed to text his wife to tell her of the terrorist attack with the message, ‘Don’t worry. Don’t reply’.

Alan had worked in the gas plant for two years. He had been back in the Sahara for three weeks, after being home for Christmas in Portsoy, Aberdeenshire, to be with wife and daughters Imogen, four, and 18-month-old Esme.

So he was due to go back, but he had changed shifts from three weeks on three weeks off to four weeks on, four off.

He said: “If I had not done that, I would have been on a bus back to the airport to go home – a bus that was attacked by the terrorists.”

The next target for the terrorists was the accommodation block, where Alan had been just 10 minutes earlier.

Alan added: “The first we knew something was wrong was when the power went off and the alarm sounded. But an Algerian National employee told us there was a terrorist attack. We had a procedure and locked ourselves in the office, taped papers over the window so no one could see inside and sat tight. Our building had toilets, food and water so we could hold out for a while. There were also armed guards we called gendarmes at the plant there to protect us so we felt relatively safe.

“We heard gunfire outside, sometimes intense, and then quiet and we sat for three and a half hours.”

Then came the moment they were all dreading.

Death claim: Belmokhtar
Reuters


Alan said: “At around 9.30am we heard a very friendly national voice say good morning in Arabic, we’re certain that was the terrorists coming in and trying to lull people into coming out friendly.

“That was the first moment that you thought, ‘We’re in big trouble here’. We just assumed we were surrounded, and the terrorists were waiting, just going round and gathering people up.”

Along with three other workers, he moved to another room where they closed the blinds and stayed in total darkness for three days.

“There were about 30 workers in the building, including a lot of Algerians who could have left unharmed. But they knew if they did, it might betray us. We owe these guys our lives for staying.”

Alan had access to a satellite phone and mobile phone. He managed to text Karlyn: “Don’t panic. Terrorists in camp. They have accommodation block and factory.”

Then another: “BP may say I am missing. I am not. Don’t worry. Don’t reply. Love all of you.” But he did not know if they were getting through.

Karlyn said: “It was wonderful to receive them. I knew he was alive when the news was saying all the time that hostages and casualties were rising. It was such a worrying time.”

On Wednesday morning, the Algerians agreed they were going to try to escape at first light. The wire fence was only 20 yards from their hiding place.

Alan said: “I had made up my mind to stay put. But when I heard the first twang of the wire being cut I was like a rabbit out of the trap.

“I grabbed a hat and anorak to try to look like a local and made a break for it with the rest of the lads. It was like the Great Escape. We all climbed through the fence and ran into the desert with gunfire behind us as the fighting went on.

“The first cut of the fence, made such a noise that you knew it must have travelled to where the terrorists were.

“But within 30 seconds they had both fences open and we were free to go, that was it. You knew these guys were behind you and if they saw you, you didn’t know if they would be shooting at you.

“We took the satellite phone with us and were about 1km in when we saw a military post with eight or nine soldiers with their guns pointing at us. But we didn’t know if they were friend or foe.”

Bombed: The wreckage of a vehicle
AP


The group were told to stop, kneel down and say nothing.

Then the armed men began isolating the locals until only the four ex-patriots were left.

“We were there for 20 minutes alone and it was the most terrifying time. We thought we had walked into the arms of the terrorists disguised as soldiers.

“You just think, ‘That’s it’. I thought I’d made the biggest mistake of my life. There was pretty much no escape from them, and you know it’s going to take a miracle to get you out. But one Algerian recognised a couple of them and we knew we were safe!”

Alan added: “The gendarmes and soldiers saved our lives.” Alan then managed to use the satellite phone to contact Karlyn to tell her he was safe.

After another 24 hours under siege, he and others were flown to Palma then London where they were met on Friday by intelligence officers for a debrief.

British engineer David Murray, 47, also returned home to Kirkby, Liverpool at the weekend.

Veteran al-Qaeda fighter Mokhtar Belmokhtar, nicknamed Mr Marlboro, the 41-year-old head of the Signed-in-Blood Battalion, claimed responsibility for the attack yesterday and called on France to halt air strikes in Mali.

He said he was ready to negotiate with the West and Algerian government after the “blessed operation”.

In the final assault by Algerian forces the remaining militants executed seven hostages before 11 of them were cut down.

Some terrorists had been working at the BP plant. An Algerian security source said: “The suspicion is that some of the militants were placed inside the plant as drivers, cooks and even guards.

“This gave them detailed knowledge of the facility, and its top level security measures. There would have been some kind of background checks, of course.”

BP would not comment.

A total of 685 Algerian and 107 foreigners were freed in the four-day siege.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/algerian-hostage-crisis-survivor-of-the-slaughter-1547321