Employees of plant engineering firm JGC Corp. as well as relatives and friends of workers expressed anger and dismay after the government confirmed Monday that seven Japanese were killed during the hostage crisis at the Ain Amenas gas complex in Algeria last week.

In front of JGC headquarters in Yokohama on Tuesday morning, a 33-year-old employee said he was worried that he may someday be sent to work abroad.

"Setting aside Algeria, there are countries where the security situation is volatile, and how to ensure the security of plant construction sites in these countries remains a big problem," said the employee, who has worked at the firm's overseas plants.