The family of an oil worker killed during a rescue attempt after being taken hostage off the coast of Nigeria have spoken of their "devastation" at his death.
David Hunt, a 58-year-old grandfather from Teesside, was one of seven foreign oil workers taken hostage from a supply vessel belonging to a subsidiary of the Italian oil giant Eni SpA.
He died during a botched rescue attempt by the Nigerian Navy in which an Italian man was wounded and two kidnappers and one soldier killed.
In a statement issued through Cleveland Police his family told how Mr Hunt was a married man with two grown-up children and five grandchildren - four boys and a girl aged between two and seven.
His wife Janice said: "David was a wonderful loving son, husband, father and grandfather. His death has left us utterly devastated."
His family said that Mr Hunt had worked abroad for many years, with spells in Italy, Syria, Libya and latterly Nigeria, having flown out to Lagos to join the vessel on October 24 following a holiday in Spain with his wife..
He was a production superintendent working on the vessel Mystras - a Floating Production Storage Offloading (FPSO) vessel and oil refinery that was based off the coast of Nigeria.
The kidnappings were the latest in a series of attacks by militants on oil installations in the volatile Niger delta, where most of Nigeria's oil is produced.
Since the beginning of this year, militant groups have attacked oil pipelines and taken oil workers hostage in violence that has cut about 25% of the country's usual crude output of about 2.5 million barrels each day.
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Most oil workers kidnapped over the past year have been safely released. The captives are usually freed after a ransom is paid by the companies and the government, according to security analysts.
