Algeria hostage crisis: BP moves staff and families out of country Bob Dudley, the chief executive, said management was helping those caught in the crisis. A statement from BP said it was flying employees back to the UK overnight. However, the firm was allegedly criticised by workers who said security at the gas complex was poor. One freed Algerian employee claimed that the base was "insufficiently protected." The Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera claimed he criticised Algerian gendarmes and said guards had failed to react to the initial assault. Another BP worker was quoted by Algérie-Focus as saying the head office in Algiers was told several times of "security lapses" at the plant, but nothing was done. A BP spokesman said: "We believed the national security arrangements and the site-specific arrangements were adequate. Once this situation is resolved we will review what has happened and learn what we can from it. We are taking this situation very seriously.