Mali hotel attack: Scores of hostages held in Bamako

Unconfirmed reports told STELODY GLOBAL NEWS that Nigerian Billionaire Aliko Dangote stayed in Radisson Hotel days back.

 

Gunmen have launched an attack on the Radisson Blu Hotel in the centre of Mali's capital, Bamako, with three hostages reported to have been killed.

Two people have locked in 140 guests and 30 employees in "a hostage-taking situation", the hotel's US owners said.
Gunmen entered the hotel, which is popular with expat workers, shooting and shouting "God is great!" in Arabic.
A Malian army commander told the AP news agency that about 20 hostages had been freed.
Hostages able to recite verses of the Koran were being released, a security source has told Reuters news agency.

Six staff from Turkish Airlines are staying at the hotel, and a Chinese guest told China's state news agency Xinhua that he was among about seven Chinese tourists trapped there.
French newspaper Le Monde quoted the Malian security ministry as saying at least three hostages had been killed, AFP news agency reports.

In August, suspected Islamist gunmen killed 13 people, including five UN workers, during a hostage siege at a hotel in the central Malian town of Sevare.
France, the former colonial power in Mali, intervened in the country in January 2013 when al-Qaeda-linked militants threatened to march on Bamako after taking control of the north of the country.

Source: BBC