12 SNC-Lavalin employees die in Algeria bombing

Twelve SNC-Lavalin (SNC-T) employees were killed and another 15 injured in Algeria, when a car bomb exploded near a bus they were riding to work.

The employees were travelling to the company’s Koudiat Acerdoune water-treatment and distribution plant, located in Bouira, 150 km southeast of the capital Algiers.

The car bomb, believed to be the work of Islamic extremists, is the first terrorist attack the Montrealheadquartered engineering firm has experienced in its 50 years of operating worldwide.

Authorities haven’t determined whether the company was targeted or if the bus was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“SNC-Lavalin would like to extend its deepest sympathies to the families of the victims, and to those who are currently being treated in a local hospital,” the company said in a release.

“SNC-Lavalin is proud of its long-standing relationship with the people of Algeria and of the many projects we have carried out together over morethan thirtyyears. We continue to work closely with Algerian authorities to ensure the safety and security of all our personnel.”

The engineering firm is currently working on contracts worth $1.5 billion in Algeria, including power plants and a seawater desalination facility.

SNC-Lavalin has 2,000 employees in Algeria.

In the last year and a half, more than 200 people have been killed in the country in terrorist attacks.