[CNN] American killed in Algeria hostage standoff 'really, truly felt safe there' (Hitting close to home)

[sjinhan]

http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/22/world/...html?hpt=hp_t4
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American killed in Algeria hostage standoff 'really, truly felt safe there' By Ben Brumfield, CNN
updated 4:24 AM EST, Tue January 22, 2013


(CNN) -- Victor Lovelady was excited about the job posting.

The money was good, and he got 28 days off for every 28 days he put in.

Yes, it was in a remote natural gas facility in Algeria, but the Nederland, Texas, man assured his family it was safe.

"He said, 'Nothing's happened there in so long and my friends have been doing it for so long,'" his daughter recounted in an interview with CNN affiliate KFDM on Monday. "He really, truly felt safe there. He did."

But just 10 days after he returned to the sprawling complex in Amenas from a visit home, Lovelady was taken hostage.



Algeria PM: Facility booby-trapped

Balancing profits, security in Algeria

Escaped hostage's family tells tale

Libya's connection to hostage crisis Militants wielding AK-47s drove up in pickup trucks, gathered the workers and tied them up.

In the four-day siege that followed, Lovelady was one of three Americans killed.

Thirty four other hostages from at least six countries -- including seven Japanese, six Filipinos and three Britons -- also died. At least five more workers are still missing.

Lovelady was just 57.

"I'm Daddy's little girl. That was me," his daughter, Erin, told KFDM, her face wet with tears. "We were very, very close."

On Tuesday -- almost a week later -- governments around the world were still waiting for the Algerian government to provide a full accounting of the dead and missing.

'We just knew he was going to be coming home'

The attack began at dawn Wednesday -- a retaliation, Algeria said, for the country allowing France to use its airspace for an offensive against Islamist militants in neighboring Mali.

But regional analysts believe it was too sophisticated to have been planned in days.

The targeted gas facility is run by Algeria's state oil company, in cooperation with foreign firms such as Norway's Statoil and Britain's BP. Some 790 people worked there, including 134 foreign workers.

The next day, Algerian special forces moved in, because the government said the militants planned to blow up the gas installation and flee to Mali.

The incursion succeeded in freeing some hostages -- but not all -- and several of them died.

Read more: Bloody Algeria hostage crisis ends after 'final' assault, officials say

Lovelady survived. The FBI informed his family that he was alive and well but still being held.

On Saturday, the Algerian government raided the facility again.

That assault killed the remaining hostage-takers but resulted in more hostage deaths.

Among them: Lovelady.

"I can't tell you to me how disheartening it was," his brother, Mike, said. "We just knew he was going to be coming home with the rest of them."

This is hitting close to home for me, not because I know anyone who has died, but because I am will also start my rotation work (28 days on and 28 days off) in Africa (Angola) to workover one of the oilfields.

I have been there many times and I have always felt very safe there but its one of those things... I only takes one incident like this to change everything...

Prayers go out to the families...

[Corcaigh]

There's always a risk in working in countries where there is instability. But the companies operating in those regions take precautions and will likely raise those further given this incident. A brutal cynic might argue that worker safety is not a top concern, but if they think a billion dollar petrochemical plant is at risk that asset will be protected, and the workers along with it.

My father worked overseas for many years. Is the risk measurably higher than a workplace accident or shooting in the USA?

[Predicto]

I hope it all goes well for you. In fact, I suspect that security will be pretty strong at those facilities for the near future, so that's good.

[Burgold]

I hope it all goes well for you. In fact, I suspect that security will be pretty strong at those facilities for the near future, so that's good.

I agree with this. Nontheless, be smart and keep safe.

[Yusuf06]

I agree with this. Nontheless, be smart and keep safe.

+1. It's probably a lot like flying right after a plane crash. Everyone is more attuned to the possibility of the same type of thing happening again. That said, be careful. I hope it goes well for you.

[sjinhan]

I hope it all goes well for you. In fact, I suspect that security will be pretty strong at those facilities for the near future, so that's good.

Yeah I have no doubt that the company will try its best to keep us safe. Just one of those things... I guess I always need to keep cautious... Some of the older guys said it was interesting time 15-18 years ago when Cuban commandos were protecting the USA citizens against CIA back militia.