British Defense Secretary Philip Hammond said Britain was still pressing the Algerian government for full details, while confirming the Saturday assault resulted in more deaths. He called the loss of life "appalling and unacceptable," laying blame solely on the terrorists.

Like Cameron, Norwegian foreign ministry spokesman Svein Michelsen confirmed that the Algerian military offensive was over, but did not offer further details.

Nations scramble to account for missing

The overall death toll could rise, Algerian state TV reports, as authorities are still combing the area.

Amid the uncertainty, individual nations are scrambling to find out what happened to their citizens. It is not clear how many hostages were seized by the Islamist militants in the first place.

Five Norwegians are missing while "eight are now safe," Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said.

Five British nationals and one UK resident are missing or feared dead in Algeria, Hague told reporters. This is in addition to one Briton, whose death was previously announced.

Colombia's president said a citizen was presumed dead.

The Scottish government said eight of its residents are safe.

There are no known French hostages unaccounted for, a Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Saturday.

Three French nationals who were at the site are safe, the foreign ministry has said. One man -- identified as Yann Desjeux -- died after telling the French newspaper Sud Ouest on Thursday that he and 34 other hostages of nine different nationalities were well-treated.

Of the BP employees, 14 are safe, and four BP employees are still missing in Algeria, BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley said.

At least one American, identified as Frederick Buttaccio, is among the dead, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. The senior U.S. official told CNN that six freed Americans left Algeria and one remained.

One Romanian lost his life, a spokeswoman for the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told CNN on Saturday. Four other Romanians were freed.

And there are 14 Japanese unaccounted for, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said.

Malaysia's state-run news agency reported Thursday that two of its citizens were held captive.

Dramatic tales of escape from terror

When the crisis began Wednesday, militants gathered the Westerners into a group and tied them up, survivors said. The kidnappers wielded AK-47 rifles and put explosive-laden vests on some hostages, according to a U.S. State Department official.

Some survivors described their harrowing escapes by rigging up disguises, sneaking to safety with locals, and in at least one case, running for his life with plastic explosives strapped around his neck.

That man was Stephen McFaul, who -- according to his brother Brian -- was among a group of hostages who had been blindfolded, gagged and then packed into five Jeeps on Thursday, during Algerian forces' first offensive.