BAMAKO RADISSON BLU HOTEL COOK ESCAPED TERRORISTS BY JUMPING WINDOW

SECURITY FORCES OUTSIDE RADISSON BLU HOTEL, BAMAKO

One of the cooks at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Bamako, Mali which was the scene of the hostage taking by Islamists gunmen on Friday, November 20, 2015 has told of how he escaped from the hotel by jumping through a window.

The cook, Mohammed Coulibaly says he left the kitchen after being told by a waitress that the hotel was under attack only to meet guests in the dining room running in different directions.

He said upon the entrance of the attackers into the dining room, he ran to the bathrooms to hide only to be discovered and shot at. He told reporters that he then returned to the kitchen but there he was almost suffocated by smoke which had filled the room. Mr. Coulibaly said the fumes left him with no option but to jump out through the kitchen window to save his life.

The Malian Interior Minister in a statement reported that 20 people were killed in the attack, 18 guests and 2 Malian police officers. He also reports that 17 guests and three Malian police officers were injured in the assault.