A hearing looking at the deaths of six British citizens and a UK-based Colombian, who were killed in the 2013 terror attack on the In Amenas gas plant in Algeria, is due to start in London.

A total of 800 people were taken hostage and more than 60 were killed in the siege, which saw militants linked to Al-Qaeda overrun the gas facility.

The plant is jointly run by British energy company BP, Norway’s Statoil and the Algerian state-controlled operator Sonatrach.

Ahead of the inquest it was stated that one of the hearing’s objectives was to “consider the security of the site and whether or not there was any information known or held relating to the impending attack”.

Earlier this month, Statoil announced that normal operations were being resumed at the facility, 19 months after the attack.

Since the hostage crisis in January 2013, Statoil had kept its permanent workers away from the gas field.

The return to normal operations came after the implementation of new security measures, including a new airport, observation helicopters and a permanent military presence on the site.