Algerian gas hostage crisis: Wired to a suicide bomber

About a dozen foreign workers were attached by wires to a militant suicide bomber during the siege at the In Amenas gas plant in Algeria, according to an Algerian BP engineer.

The man, who does not want to be named, says he came across the disturbing site at the staff accommodation block when he was taken there by the gunmen after they caught him trying to escape.

He told BBC Radio 4's Report programme, "They were attached by a wire to a bomb, with a suicide bomber in the middle, holding the wire and if our army were to attack, then they would blow the whole thing up."

It is not known whether any of those hostages were among the 48 from Britain, Japan, Norway, the US and the Philippines killed during the four-day siege.

Listen to The Report on BBC Radio 4 on Thursday, 31 January at 20:00 GMT. You can listen again via the Radio 4 website or The Report download.