Alex Salmond confirms Scots are among hostages in Algeria 17 January 2013 Last updated at 12:10 A number of Scots are among some 20 foreign nationals who have been taken prisoner by Islamist militants in Algeria, Alex Salmond has confirmed. The first minister informed the Scottish Parliament after speaking to Prime Minister David Cameron. Militants occupied the complex, near In Amenas, on Wednesday after killing a Briton and an Algerian. They claim to have 41 hostages. French, British, US, Japanese and Norwegian nationals are among the captives. Speaking at First Minister's Questions on Thursday, Mr Salmond told MSPs: "The chamber will know that a terrorist group has seized BP's Statoil facility in the Algerian Sahara. Families informed Citizens of a number of nationalities are involved, including UK citizens. I can confirm to the chamber a number of Scots are among the hostages. The UK government reports that one UK national has been killed in the attack. Mr Salmond said that information was limited "in the interests of the safety and security of the hostages." BP's overriding priority is to do all we can to ensure the safety of our staff and to support their families during this anguishing time End Quote Bob Dudley BP chief executive "The priority is their safety and, of course, to keep families informed," he said. The Scottish Police Service is fully engaged with the Metropolitan Police Service in the latter, and Scottish government ministers are in contact with Foreign and Commonwealth officers on the former. This is a hugely serious situation and I know that the whole chamber is united, both in condemnation of the attack and also in hoping for the early and safe release of the hostages. Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports from Algeria say that a number of hostages - some 30 to 40 Algerians and 15 to 20 foreign nationals - have escaped from the militants. Elsewhere, the Scottish government said that ministers did not take part in the UK government's Cobra meetings on the situation, but were given information from the meetings. The UK Foreign Office would not confirm how many Scots were being held. A spokesman said no personal details or numbers involved were being made public. The In Amenas gas field and its facilities are operated by a joint venture of the Algerian national oil company Sonatrach, BP and Statoil. In its latest statement, BP said the incident was "continuing" and remained "unresolved and fragile" BP's chief executive, Bob Dudley, said: "BP's overriding priority is to do all we can to ensure the safety of our staff and to support their families during this anguishing time. All our efforts are focussed on supporting the authorities to secure a peaceful resolution of the situation and the safe return of our colleagues, and all other workers being detained.