TWO MEN from Tayside and Fife are missing, feared dead, following the bloody conclusion of the Algerian hostage crisis.
Kenneth Whiteside, who is originally from Glenrothes, and an unnamed Perthshire man are unaccounted for following the four-day siege at the In Amenas BP plant.
A third man, Barry Lawson, was feared missing but has since been confirmed as safe. Mr Lawson, a consultant drilling cost controller with BP, is thought to be from St Andrews.
Terrorists linked to al Qaeda attacked the plant in the Sahara Desert on Wednesday and took many hostages. Algerian authorities say 81 died in the outrage.
Earlier they said 22 hostages had been killed and 32 militants, but this number has now soared.
Algerian bomb squads searching the remote desert complex for booby-traps left by the terrorists were said to have found a further 25 bodies on Sunday.
Fears that the remaining militants had been about to blow up the whole plant was one of the reasons given by the Algerian authorities for launching the “final assault”, which ended the siege.
Algerian officials said the state of some of the bodies is making it difficult to tell whether the dead were hostages or the attackers.
Five of the terrorists have been captured alive. A further 22 of the captives have now returned home on a BP chartered jet.
Britain’s ambassador to Algiers, Martyn Roper, has returned to In Amenas to lead efforts to establish what had happened to the three missing Britons, having finally been allowed to travel to the area on Saturday.
On Sunday night BP said four of its employees were missing.
In a statement, the company said: “At the time of the attack there were 18 BP employees at In Amenas; 14 of them are safe and secure. Two of the 14 have sustained injuries, but these are not life-threatening.
“BP remains gravely concerned about four of its employees who are missing. There is no further confirmed information regarding their status at this time.”
Three Scots Mark Grant (29), from Grangemouth, Iain Strachan (38), from Johnstone and Alan Wright (37), from Portsoy, Aberdeenshire have been confirmed as safe.
One of the missing men was named as Kenneth Whiteside (59), who lives in South Africa but is originally from Glenrothes and has a brother in Crieff.
His brother, Robert, declined to comment.
Pete Wishart, MP for Perth and North Perthshire, confirmed the Foreign and Commonwealth Office had informed him a Perthshire resident was unaccounted for.
He said: “It now looks likely that a constituent of mine is amongst those unaccounted for in the Algerian hostage crisis.
“I have been kept up to date by the Minister and the Foreign Office and I know that they are doing all they can to keep the family informed.
“My thoughts are obviously with the family at this time. I really hoped that when I learned that a Perthshire man was caught up on this dreadful event that he would be one of those that would make it out safely.
“Unfortunately it looks that this will now not be the case.”
John Swinney, MSP for Perthshire North, branded the siege a “vicious act of terrorism”.
He said: “I have been deeply saddened to hear it is feared that one of my constituents has not survived the Algerian hostage incident.
“I extend my thoughts to his family at this terrible time. This has been a vicious act of terrorism which has had awful consequences.”
Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perthshire South and Kinross-shire, added: “This will have been a particularly harrowing time for his family and friends.
“My thoughts and prayers are with them at this painfully difficult time.”
First Minister Alex Salmond confirmed two Scots or people with Scottish family connections were believed to have been killed.
The two families concerned were informed by police on Saturday.
Adding that the Government would provide details as soon as it is satisfied the information is full and final, he asked that the privacy of the families concerned be respected “given the ordeal they have been through”.
He added: “We know that eight Scottish survivors are all now back in the UK.
“While eight families can thankfully welcome home their loved ones, our thoughts must be with the families of those who may have been lost in Algeria.
“The Scottish authorities continue to offer every support to all caught up in this crisis, and we remain in close contact with the UK Government.
“We extend our condolences to all those, of all nationalities, who have lost loved ones and colleagues in this terrorist outrage.”