A Scottish oil worker was found "bludgeoned to death" and another is seriously injured after being attacked in a mysterious incident on an oil rig off the coast of Qatar.
The pair worked for a Scottish company on board the Seafox Burj platform in the Persian Gulf.
Unverified reports claim the man who died was was killed by a colleague who bludgeoned him to death, swaddled his body in a bed sheet and then tried to hide it in the bathroom of his sleeping quarters before he planned to flee.
The worker was then found dead in his room by a third man who became suspicious of the alleged murderer. When he confronted him he was also attacked and is now in hospital, it has been reported.
All three men were from Scotland and employed by Stapem Offshore which is headquartered in France but has offices in the Qatari capital Doha.
Another colleague on the rig claimed to The Times it was definitley murder. He said: “Apparently, one guy battered another worker with a breathing apparatus bottle.
"We were told he then wrapped him up in the bed sheet, put him in the bathroom and went for his dinner.
“A third guy saw him and asked how the now dead man was and said he was going to see him.
"We heard he followed him back to the room and then hit him over the head and started to strangle him, but he managed to escape and get help.”
Another worker told the Times that they believed the alleged murderer was going to try to throw the deceased man overboard before escaping on a helicopter that night.
“It’s a situation that I don’t think anyone in this industry has experienced. It was a murder and attempted murder on the rig", an anonymous worker told the Times.
It’s understood police officers were flown out to the rig in a helicopter, then locked it down and informed the workers families of the tragedy.
A Foreign Office spokesman confirmed the incident, saying said: "We are supporting the family of a British man who has died and a man who has been injured in Qatar and are in contact with the local authorities."
The Seafox Burj was built 50 years ago and in a brochure on its website it says it can house up to 300 people and has three cranes.
It says it has "excellent leisure facilities and other health and well-being amenities to allow those on board a pleasant and positive experience".
