Hostage victims 'were lovely guys'

Jan 21 2013

A survivor of the Algerian hostage crisis has paid tribute to two Scottish colleagues believed to have died in the attack.

Peter Hunter, 53, from Durham, was reunited with wife Kerry on Monday after he spent days in hiding at a secret location at the sprawling plant.

He said he was "fortunate" to be able to return home and described colleagues Carson Bilsland and Kenneth Whiteside as "lovely guys".

"I guess you could say I was not in the wrong place at the wrong time," Mr Hunter said. "I used to see Carson every morning and every lunchtime and we always had a bit of banter. He was a lovely guy, they all were.

"Kenny Whiteside used to play the bagpipes. Occasionally he would have his kilt on. I used to sit on the step there and he used to say, 'I do requests'. He was a lovely, lovely man. It's just very sad."

Mr Whiteside, a 59-year-old from Glenrothes, Fife, who lived in Johannesburg with his wife and two daughters, was a planning manager at the In Amenas desert complex. His brother said police have confirmed he was executed.

Mr Bilsland, from Perthsire, is also believed to have died in the siege. He had reportedly worked in Algeria for around two years as a testing technician and was a former member of the British speed ski team.

Scotland's Justice Secretary said those involved in the crisis had been through a "horrendous ordeal".

He said: "As the victims who have survived come home, they will be in contact to see what counselling can be provided because even those who have survived have been through a horrendous ordeal, as we have seen on the television, and we will be making sure, through police and other agencies, that appropriate contact is provided."

BP employee Alan Wright, 37, from Portsoy in Aberdeenshire, is among one of the survivors to have returned to the UK.