Bloody hostage siege over, explosives teams scour Algerian gas plant for mines, bodies

Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg is embraced by Executive Vice President in Statoil, Margrethe Oevrum, Saturday Jan. 19, 2013, after his visit at the drop-in center in Bergen for relatives of the Statoil-employees taken hostage in Algeria. In a bloody finale on Saturday, Algerian special forces stormed a natural gas complex in the Sahara desert to end a four-day standoff with Islamic extremists that left at least 19 hostages and 29 militants dead. With few details emerging from the remote site, it was unclear whether anyone was rescued in the final operation. (AP Photo / Anette Karlsen, NTB scanpix) NORWAY OUT (The Associated Press)

Two British hostages Peter, left, and Alan, right, (no family name available), are seen after being released, in a street of Ain Amenas, near the gas plant where they have been kidnapped by Islamic militants, Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013. Algeria's special forces stormed the natural gas complex in the middle of the Sahara desert in a final assault Saturday, killing 11 militants, but not before they in turn killed seven hostages, the state news agency reported.(AP Photo/Anis Belghoul) (The Associated Press)

Algeria's state news service says de-mining teams are going through the gas refinery that was the scene of a bloody four-day hostage standoff, searching for explosive traps left by the Islamic militants who took dozens of foreigner prisoner.

Algerian special forces stormed the natural gas complex in the Sahara on Saturday to end the siege that left at least 23 hostages dead and killed 32 militants involved, the Algerian government said.

With few details emerging from the remote Ain Amenas site in eastern Algeria, it was unclear whether anyone was rescued in the final operation, but the number of hostages killed on Saturday — seven — was how many the militants had said they still had. The government described the toll as provisional and some foreigners remain unaccounted for.