Three Americans confirmed among dozens killed in Algeria hostage taking ALGIERS, Algeria - The U.S. State Department on Monday confirmed that three American citizens were among those killed during the hostage-taking by Islamic militants at a gas field in Algeria. The death toll from the four-day siege deep in the Sahara has risen to at least 67, Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal said Monday on Algerian televsion. The number includes 38 foreign workers and 29 militants who died in the crisis which came to an end in a bloody confrontation with Algerian forces. Five foreigners remained unaccounted for, Sellal said. A Japanese government source said the Algerian government had informed Tokyo that nine Japanese had been killed, the highest toll among the non-Algerians working there. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland on Monday identified the three Americans who were killed as Victor Lynn Lovelady, Gordon Lee Rowan and Frederick Buttaccio, who had been named earlier. "We are also aware of seven U.S. citizens who survived the attack," Nuland said. Due to privacy considerations, we have no further information to provide. "We will continue to work closely with the Government of Algeria to gain a fuller understanding of the terrorist attack of last week and how we can work together moving forward to combat such threats in the future," Nuland said. 'Blessed operation' One-eyed veteran Islamist fighter Mokhtar Belmokhtar claimed responsibility for the attack on behalf of al-Qaida. The fighters swooped out of the desert on Wednesday and seized the In Anema plant and residential barracks nearby. About 800 people, including some 700 Algerians and 100 foreigners, managed to escape after militants stormed. According to Salell, the attackers tried to blow up the gas facility on Friday night by planting explosives in a gas pipe and trying to detonate it. The plant produces about 10 percent of the countries gas exports. The militants demanded an end to French air strikes against Islamist fighters in neighboring Mali that had begun five days earlier. On Monday, Salell said that a Canadian was one of the coordinators of the attack. Ottawa said it was investigating reports that Canadian nationals were involved. Sellal said negotiating with the kidnappers was essentially impossible. "Their goal was to kidnap foreigners," he said. They wanted to flee to Mali with the foreigners, but once they were surrounded they started killing the first hostages. It's easy to say that this or that should have been done. The Algerian authorities took a decision and the toll is very high but I am a bit bothered ... when the impression is given that the Algerians are open to question," said French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. They had to deal with terrorists. But physical damage to the gas plant in In Anema was minor, state news service APS reported, citing Oil Minister Youcef Yousfi. The plant would start up again in two days, he said. Algeria, scarred by the civil war with Islamist insurgents in the 1990s which claimed 200,000 lives, insisted from the start of the crisis there would be no negotiation in the face of terrorism. Catherine Chomiak, NBC News, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.