One of seven foreign oil workers taken hostage Wednesday was killed and another was wounded during a rescue attempt that also left two kidnappers and a soldier dead, according to Nigerian and private security officials.
Gunmen had seized the seven hostages from an Italian oil supply vessel off the coast of southern Nigeria in the latest attack by militants on oil facilities in the energy-rich region.
Government and private security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media said the four were killed during the rescue attempt.
In all, 25 foreign workers and nearly 60 Nigerian employees had been aboard the vessel belonging to a subsidiary of Italian oil giant Eni SpA that was attacked overnight, Eni said in a statement.
The company said 10 armed men attacked the ship and took seven people away on a speedboat, grabbing two Finnish citizens along with an Italian, a Filipino, a Briton, a Pole and a Romanian.