Two British workers who escaped the hostage crisis in Algeria described their period of captivity as "exciting" in an interview with Algerian state TV while two others said that they fear for the safety of at least 10 UK citizens left behind.
The first man, sat on a bus being taken away from the gas field in the Algerian desert, praised the Algerian armed forces.
"I think they did a fantastic job. I was very impressed with the Algerian army," he told Algerian state television.
"It was a very exciting episode. I feel sorry for anybody who has been hurt but, other than that, I enjoyed it."
A second man said: "The gendarmes did a fantastic job. They kept us all nice and safe and fought off the bad guys.
"I never really felt in any danger, to be honest."
The circumstances behind the television interviews were not certain, and it was not clear whether either man might have been speaking under duress.
A further two British workers spoke to Algerian television about their ordeal.
"I feel safe at the moment but I won't feel 100% happy until I'm back in the UK," one man said.
"My heart goes out to the guys that are still there and hopefully everyone comes home safe because, at the end of the day, it's only work."
Another man said he was "very relieved" to be out. He added: "As much as I'm glad to be out, my thoughts are with colleagues that are still there at the moment."
Security sources told Algerian state news agency APS that nearly 100 overseas workers had been "released" - and put the total originally seized by Islamist militants at 132.
At least 10 UK citizens are understood to remain "at risk" as local efforts continue to end the terrorist attack at a remote desert gas facility.
The Algerian government said last night that a significant number of foreigners had been freed in an operation led by its own special forces but an unspecified number had been killed.
It remains unclear how many of those still in the complex are alive.
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