Vinci hostages held in Niger released

Three employees of French contractor Vinci’s Sogea Satom subsidiary and another Areva employee have been freed from captivity in Niger after three years being held hostage, Vinci has confirmed.

Xavier Huillard, chairman and CEO of VINCI said, "It is with an immense joy that we learned of the release of our employees Thierry Dol, Pierre Legrand and Marc Feret and of Daniel Larribe, an employee of Areva.

"It comes as a huge relief to their families and friends and to all those who have worked or hoped for their return after such a long period of captivity."

The workers were kidnapped along with three others during the night of 15 to 16 September, 2010 while working for French nuclear group Areva and Sogea Satom in Arlit, Niger.

Three of the seven hostages were released last year. The hostage-takers were Al Qaeda’s North African arm, according to reports.