Hostages were 'human shields': Filipino survivor

Father-of-four Joseph Balmaceda said he saw one Japanese hostage draped with explosives, while he and others had their hands bound with cable ties, during the ordeal at the In Amenas gas plant in the Sahara Desert that ended Saturday.

“Whenever government troops tried to use a helicopter to shoot at the enemy, we were used as human shields,” a clearly stressed Balmaceda told reporters shortly after arriving back in Manila.

“We were told to raise our hands. The government forces could not shoot at them as long as we were held hostage.”

Balmaceda, nursing abrasions to his face and a loss of hearing, said he was the only survivor out of nine hostages who were aboard a van that exploded, apparently from C-4 explosives that the militants had rigged to the vehicle.

He said two militants were transferring the nine hostages to the central facility of the gas plant but the bomb went off during a clash with Algerian security forces.

“The only thing left of the car was the back portion of the Land Cruiser,” said Balmaceda, 42.

“I was the only one who survived because I was sandwiched between two spare tires. That is why I am still here and can talk to you.”

Balmaceda said the two militants driving the vehicle were also killed.

“But (other) hostage-takers were firing at me. It meant there were other terrorists,” he said.

“So I crawled about 300 meters to where the government forces were. And when I reached them I fainted. When I woke up I was in the hospital.”

Most hostages were freed on Thursday in a first Algerian rescue operation, which was initially viewed by foreign governments as hasty, before the focus of public condemnation turned on the jihadists.

Balmaceda said the incident in which the vehicle exploded occurred on the second day of the siege, apparently during the first rescue operation.

Balmaceda, who worked at the facility as a maintenance technician for eight years, said the hostage takers had initially told him and other Filipinos that they were mainly interested in killing French and U.S. nationals.

SHARE CLOSE
Blogger		Google+
Live Journal		Plurk
Stumble Upon

Tweet

	PREVIOUS ARTICLE
	Crowds swell for 2nd Obama inauguration

NEXT ARTICLE
Toll to worsen from hostage crisis: Algeria

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email

Submit