Count of the Dead in Algeria Siege Continues To Rise

Thirty said to be dead, with many more still missing

An American from Texas was among the hostages killed at a remote natural-gas site in Algeria, the State Department said Friday, as the Algerian military continued to try to free those still being held and the first accounts emerged from the chaotic scene.

A French national was also killed during Algeria's rescue attempt, France's foreign minister said.

's national news service said 30 people—12 Algerian and foreign workers and 18 hostage-takers—were killed since the start of an army rescue raid that was mounted after militants took dozens of foreign hostages Wednesday at the gas installation in southeast Algeria. Those numbers couldn't be confirmed.