Two Romanians dead in Algerian attacks, death toll rises to over 80

Two Romanians have died following the terrorist attack in Algeria last week, while three other Romanians involved were saved. The second man had been seriously injured and died in the hospital, but the Algerian authorities failed to inform their Romanian opposite numbers of the man's life threatening injuries, according to Romanian Foreign Affairs Minister Titus Corlatean. Both of those who died are from Prahova county, from Barcanesti and from Ploiesti. One of the three Romanians who survived has already returned to Romania, and the other two are on their way. Liviu Floria, 46, from Pitesti, told Romanian media that for two days they were in constant terror and that they were not saved, rather they had saved themselves. He managed to escape together with another Romanian, George Iachim, from Constanta. The two had to walk for 15 hours in the desert, together with seven other men. So far, international media announced over 81 dead following the Islamist attack in Algeria. Terrorists attacked a natural gas plant in In Amenas, Algeria last week. Algerian special forces stormed the plant on Saturday to end the four-day siege, killing some 30 kidnappers and 23 hostages in the assault. The death toll is expected to rise and many of those killed could not be identified. The hostages were of various nationalities, including British, American, Norwegian, Romanian, Filipino and Japanese. The Algerian government reported that 685 Algerian and 107 foreigner workers were freed. The group of terrorists, made up of at least six nationalities, call themselves 'al-Muwaqqi‘ūn bi-d-Dimā' (those who sign in blood) and are linked to Al-Qaeda. They had planned to blow up the gas station and kill all the hostages. editor@romania-insider.com