Pierre Korkie, a South African teacher who was taken hostage by Al-Qaeda militants in Yemen more than a year ago, has been killed in a failed rescue bid just a day before he was due to be released.
"We received with sadness the news that Pierre (Korkie) was killed in an attempt by American Special Forces, in the early hours of this morning, to free hostages in Yemen," said the Gift of the Givers charity.
The group, which had been negotiating Korkie's release, said on Saturday he was mere hours from being released when US special forces launched their operation.
"The psychological and emotional devastation to (his wife) Yolande and her family will be compounded by the knowledge that Pierre was to be released by Al-Qaeda tomorrow," it said.
Luke Somers, an American photojournalist, was also killed in Saturday's failed raid by US forces in Yemen's southeastern Shabwa province.
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Korkie, who was in his fifties, was seized along with his wife in May 2013 in Yemen's second city of Taiz by members of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
Yolande was released in January following mediation by Gift of the Givers.
The couple, from the South African city of Bloemfontein, had worked as teachers in Yemen for four years at the time of their capture.
Korkie's family repeatedly pleaded for his release and expressed concern about his health, saying he was suffering from a hernia and had gone deaf while in captivity.
"A year has passed and my husband, Pierre, is still in captivity. He is gravely ill and could die from complications of his condition," said Yolande Korkie in an emotional video plea posted on YouTube in May.
