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Russian national rescued in Mali is at UN camp - embassy

A Russian citizen, working for the UTair Company is alive, safe, and his moral and psychological state is a shock," the embassy’s representative said

RABAT, August 8. /TASS/. A Russian citizen, who has been freed from the Byblos Hotel seized by militants in Mali’s Sevare, is now at the UN camp there, the Russian embassy said on Saturday.

"A Russian citizen, working for the UTair Company is alive, safe, and his moral and psychological state is a shock," the embassy’s representative said.

"The situation is over, and the key news is that he is alive," the diplomat said.

Earlier on Saturday Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported several hostages taken by gunmen in Byblos Hotel in Mali’s Sevare have been freed.

"It is too early to say that everything’s over, but several hostages" were freed by Malian military, a source told AFP. Among those freed were "five foreigners who have been evacuated to Bamako." AFP did not specify citizens of which countries were freed.

On Friday, the Byblos Hotel in central Sevare, popular with foreigners, including those working for the United Nations, was reportedly attacked by Islamist militants - a group of about five to eight radicals. According to latest reports, five servicemen and two gunmen were killed. A person working for the UN mission in Mali was also killed. His citizenship is being identified now.