Over the course of the night we have received confirmation that one additional Statoil employee was brought to safety. The situation for the remaining 8 employees at In Amenas remains uncertain.

This means that a total of 9 of the 17 Statoil employees who were located at the In Amenas plant have been brought to safety.

The person who came to safety over the course of the night is now receiving medical treatment at a hospital in In Amenas.

Our three Algerian colleagues who were declared in safety last night were transported from In Amenas to the capital Algiers and are now being followed up.

We have no further information on the remaining 8 Statoil employees at In Amenas.

In total, 40 Statoil employees have now travelled out of Algeria. These employees include personnel from the In Salah facility and the first five employees from In Amenas. 

The first plane from Algeria arrived in London on Thursday night with 22 Statoil employees. The majority of these employees have now travelled home, while others are at the centre for family members in Bergen.

An additional two aircrafts with 18 Statoil employees onboard landed in Palma, Mallorca over the course of Thursday night. The employees on these planes are scheduled to fly to Bergen over the course of the day on Friday on a direct charter plane.

A fourth aircraft is scheduled to travel to Algeria on Friday in order to bring home additional Statoil employees and employees from other companies. 

Statoil is continuing to work with the Norwegian government and BP to ensure access to appropriate medical personnel for the hostages and an effective evacuation from In Amenas.

Statoil's centre for family members in Bergen is now operational, and a telephone number for family members has been established.  

Published 2013-01-18, 07:15 CET. Updated 2013-01-18, 07:20 CET.

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