PARIS, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Two French captives have managed to leave the gas facility in Algeria where they had been abducted along with dozens of other foreign workers by an al-Qaeda linked group, Franch Interior Minister Manuel Valls said Friday.
"We have news that two of them have returned. As for the other two, if there were two others, we do not have at this stage more information. we hope to have news early today," the minister added.
Speaking to the RTL radio, Valls said information from the In Amenas gas production complex was confused and he could not say wether other terrorists and hostages remain in the facility.
In an interview with the local broadcaster Europe 1, Alexandre Berceaux, one French hostage, an employee of a French CIS Catering company, said he survived thanks to supplies brought to him by Algerian colleagues. He said he had remained hidden for nearly 40 hours in a room separately from other foreign hostages.
"When the military came to get me, I did not know whether it was over. They arrived with (Algerian) colleagues, otherwise I would never have opened the door," said Berceaux.
On Thursday, French President Francois Hollande confirmed that French nationals were among the 41 foreigners kidnapped after Islamist militants attacked the gas field on Wednesday.
According to Algerian Press Agency (APS), the Algerian assault against the militants was ended after 600 Algerian workers and four foreigners were released.
Reports of casualties resulting from the attack have so far been confusing, with some claiming that dozens of hostages and their captor were killed in the operation.
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