Mumbai attacks: Scots may be caught in violence

Published on Thursday 27 November 2008 21:03

EMPLOYEES of Scottish firms may have been caught up in the Mumbai terrorism atrocities, Alex Salmond, the First Minister has said.

Scottish Government officials have been in contact with the Foreign Office to discover if any Scots were affected.

"There were some indications that some employees of Scottish-based companies could have been caught up in the atrocity," Mr Salmond told MSPs.

"I want to emphasise there is no confirmation of that – indeed at this stage it may just be that some companies were unable to contact their employees because of the overnight situation."

Jim Murphy, the Scottish Secretary, who met the Indian consul in Edinburgh yesterday, said: "The news of events in Mumbai has shocked everyone throughout Scotland and the United Kingdom and I will extend our sympathies to all the nations involved and to the families of those killed and injured in the attacks when I meet the Indian consul.

"We have also been kept informed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and will continue to monitor the situation."

Petrofac, an oil and gas firm which has a base in Aberdeen, confirmed it had closed its office in Mumbai, where about 500 staff are posted.

A spokesman for the company refused to confirm how many are UK nationals.

The company said: "Petrofac can confirm that it has closed its Mumbai office for today as a precautionary measure. The office is about 40km from where the attacks have taken place.

"Upon hearing of events in Mumbai, Petrofac deployed emergency response activities and is currently in the process of locating all staff in the country. All non-essential travel to India has been cancelled."