Two foreign nationals, one of them British, have been killed and several abducted in an attack by Islamist militants on a gas facility in eastern Algeria, state media report.
Several people were also wounded when a bus carrying workers from a gas facility near In Amenas was targeted.
After being repelled, the militants travelled to the facility, taking an unknown number of workers hostage.
Militants linked to al-Qaeda claim to have been behind the incident.
They initially said they were holding six people hostage, but an alleged spokesman later told two Mauritanian news websites they were holding 41 foreigners, including US, French, British and Japanese citizens.