Related: Bulgarian kidnapped in Nigeria

    LAGOS, Jan. 12 (Xinhuanet) -- Four foreigners working for the Royal Dutch Shell have been taken hostage by armed groups in the oil-rich Niger Delta region in southern Nigeria, company officials said on Thursday.

    "Four persons at the EA field (operated by Shell) were taken hostage by armed groups yesterday. I don't know their nationalities," said a Shell official in Lagos who declined to be named.

    Local newspaper The Guardian however reported that among the hostages are two British nationals whose names were given as Pat Crawlay and Nigel Watson-Clark. The other two are said to be from Honduras.

    A Shell spokesman told Xinhua that the four were abducted from a support vessel in the 120,000 barrels per day EA shallow offshore filed by armed men who arrived in three boats at about 15:55 (1455 GMT) on Wednesday.

    "No fatalities occurred in the incident but one person sustained injuries," the spokesman said. "We have reported the incident to the authorities."

    The exact cause of the attack remains unknown and no group has claimed responsibility for the hostage taking.

    Shell is the biggest player in Nigeria's oil field, accounting for almost half of the west African country's daily output of 2.5 million barrels. Enditem