Hostage killed in Nigeria rescue try

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria – One of seven foreign oil workers taken hostage Wednesday was killed and another was wounded during a rescue attempt that also left two kidnappers and a soldier dead, officials said.

Gunmen had seized the seven hostages from a supply vessel belonging to a subsidiary of Italian oil giant Eni SpA about 30 miles off the coast of southern Nigeria in the latest attack by militants on facilities in the volatile Niger Delta, where most of the country’s oil is produced.

An Eni statement confirmed that “during an attempt by the Nigerian navy to free the seven hostages …, there was an exchange of fire during which one hostage was killed and the remaining six, including one wounded one, were freed and taken to a safe place.”

The British Foreign Office has confirmed that a British hostage was killed in attempts to free the hostages.

AP