{"id":182111,"date":"2016-01-16T06:17:16","date_gmt":"2016-01-16T06:17:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=182111"},"modified":"2016-01-16T06:17:16","modified_gmt":"2016-01-16T06:17:16","slug":"burkina-faso-attack-hostages-freed-from-ouagadougou-hotel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/01\/burkina-faso-attack-hostages-freed-from-ouagadougou-hotel\/","title":{"rendered":"Burkina Faso attack: Hostages freed from Ouagadougou hotel"},"content":{"rendered":"
About 30 hostages have been freed after an attack by militants on a hotel in Burkina Faso’s Ouagadougou that reportedly killed at least 20 people.<\/p>\n
Several masked men stormed the Splendid Hotel, taking hostages, after car bombs went off outside, eyewitnesses said.<\/p>\n
Communications Minister Remis Dandjinou tweeted that some 30 hostages had been liberated and that a military operation to secure the site was ongoing.<\/p>\n
He said Minister of Public Works Clement Sawadogo was among those freed.<\/p>\n
Thirty-three people were in hospital receiving treatment, he added. It is not known if any hostages remain inside the hotel, but witnesses reported heavy gunfire from the top floors at around 05:00 local time (same as GMT).<\/p>\n
French special forces and Burkinabe troops were involved in rescuing hostages from the hotel used by UN staff and Westerners, Mr Dandjinou said.<\/p>\n
He said that the total number of those who lost their lives was not yet known.<\/p>\n
Hospital chief Robert Sangare quoted survivors as saying at least 20 people had died in the initial attack, before the security forces began their assault on the hotel.<\/p>\n