A British child was recovering with her parents after a terrifying school siege in Cambodia in which a fellow kindergarten pupil was killed, the British ambassador in Cambodia said today.

A three-year-old boy from Canada died when police stormed the Siem Reap International School near the Angkor Wat temples in the north-west of the country after it was seized by masked gunmen. Reports from the school were confused, but it appeared that three of a gang of four gunmen were killed in the ensuing shootout.

Youngsters from Ireland and a dozen other countries were also caught up in the drama as the gunmen took two kindergarten classes hostage.

David Reader, the British ambassador, chartered a plane with a French colleague to travel from the capital, Phnom Penh, to Siem Reap, 140 miles to the northwest. He told the Press Association: "The young British child is fine... understandably, she’s rather confused, given her rather young age and the shocking incidents that happened. She’s with her parents now and hopefully she will be well."

Some 70 pupils and three teachers were initially held by the gang of four raiders, who then released about 40 of their hostages. They demanded $30,000 in cash, weapons including grenade launchers and AK-47 assault rifles, and a 12-seat minivan.

Negotiators reportedly gave them the cash and van but refused to let them leave the school with any of their hostages. Six hours after the siege began, witnesses heard shots being fired inside the school before the children, many in the arms of Cambodian policemen, were reunited with their parents.

Khieu Kanharith, the Cambodian Information Minister, said that gunmen killed the child when authorities declined to meet all of their demands, and police then raided the building. "They also threatened to kill the children one by one. Then our forces decided to storm the school," Mr Kanharith said. The district police chief said earlier that the boy died in the final shootout.

Mr Reader said: "We understand it started at about 9.30 and it was initially said there were six intruders but the statement by the chief of police said four men actually took part in the siege, in which three subsequently died. They went in with just one small handgun."

He added: "What will happen, I would imagine, is lots of individual experiences will be recounted and we will start to form a common picture, but there remains some confusion as to when the child was shot, whether it was early on or later in the siege."

The British child is understood to be a four-year-old, the daughter of a Cambodian mother and English father. The father is originally from Kingston, Surrey, but has lived in the south-east Asian country for some 12 years, working as a consultant in the water industry.

The identity of the attackers was not clear, even after the stand-off ended. Hun Sen, the Prime Minister, said they appeared to be security guards at the school, but police later said teachers did not recognise them. There was some speculation that they may be part of a rebel group, the Cambodian Freedom Fighters, that launched a failed armed attack in Cambodia in 2000 and whose leader was arrested in California earlier this month.

Siem Reap, which hosts a number of international aid agencies as well as the Angkor Wat complex, is a favourite spot with expatriates as well as the country's tourist hub. Many of the children at the Siem Reap International School have parents who work in Cambodia's burgeoning hotel and tourism industry, which attracts around 1 million foreign visitors a year, most of whom visit the 850-year-old temples.

One Siem Reap resident, who said she had seen a list of the children being held, said the hostages were American, Irish, British, Australian, Singaporean, Canadian, Korean, Japanese, Taiwanese, Swiss, Indonesian, Indian, Italian and Filipino.

Hostage-taking, normally for money, is not uncommon in the war-scarred southeast Asian nation, which is still awash with weapons after decades of civil war, including the Khmer Rouge genocide of the 1970s.

Asked about the effect on Cambodian tourism, Mr Reader said: "I have to say this is a most unusual set of circumstances. In recent times, whilst there are some problems here from the past, the international community has never before experienced anything like this. I think that is why we need to find out about the motivation: it is a surprise and I hope that it will be a one-off."

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