There's been a lot of confusion in the aftermath of the four-day long hostage crisis at a remote Algerian natural gas production facility. KUT News takes a look at the information and tries to sort out the information relevant to Texas.
The siege ended in a violent standoff Saturday, after security forces stormed the natural gas production facility, leaving a preliminary count of 58 hostages dead. That number is likely to go up as more information becomes available. The New York Times reports “there are a good 20 bodies,” some badly burned, left to be identified.
Details are murky about who survived and who was lost during the siege, but what is known is that out of the reported 685 Algerian and 107 foreign workers at the plant, at least four Texans have been linked to the crisis.
One Texan has been confirmed dead. Frederick Buttaccio, 58, of Katy was a sales-operations coordinator at BP. Fox News reports Buttaccio died of a heart attack during the attack.
Other news outlets, including Austin's KVUE, are reporting the general manager of the complex, Mark Cobb of Corpus Christi, was able to escape along with two other Texas residents, one a resident of Austin, and the other a 57-year old father from Nederland who serves as a project manager for ENGlobal in Houston.
As world leaders are working to bring all the hostages back safely, the survivors are expected to return to their homes as early as Sunday.