Norwegian oil and gas company Statoil have today confirmed the death of a fourth Norwegian employee at the In Amenas gas plant hostage-taking in Algeria this month.

Statoil identified the man as 43-year-old Alf Vik and said that one other Norwegian working on the site at the time of the attack by Islamist militants is still missing.

The Norwegian foreign ministry said on Friday it was "unlikely" the missing man would be found alive.

According to preliminary estimates by the Algerian authorities, 37 foreign hostages and 29 kidnappers died in the Islamist attack against the gas field and in the military operation that followed.

The hostage-takers were demanding the release of Islamist prisoners and an end to France's intervention in Mali.