London: Gunmen were Friday holding 125 guests and 13 employees hostage at the luxury Radisson Blu hotel in Mali’s capital Bamako, according to the hotel chain.

‘We are closely following the hostage-taking incident,’ said the Rezidor Hotel Group. ‘According to our latest information 125 guests and 13 employees are still in the building.’

‘Our highest concern is the safety of all our guests and employees in the hotel. We are in constant contact with the authorities.

A spokesperson for the group told AFP that the figure was the latest available, and took into account the number of hostages freed earlier.

The gunmen are believed to have entered the 190-room hotel around 0700 GMT in a car with diplomatic plates before seizing 170 guests and staff in a suspected Islamist hostage-taking that has left at least three people dead.

Special forces are storming Bamako’s Radisson Blu and dozens of hostages have been freed, according to local television and security sources.

Witnesses described ‘around a dozen’ armed assailants, while security sources spoke of two or three ‘jihadist attackers.

20 Indians among Mali hostages

Twenty Indian nationals are among the hostages being held at the luxury Radisson Blu hotel in Mali’s capital Bamako, an Indian foreign ministry spokesman said Friday.

‘Our ambassador has confirmed that 20 Indians are held hostage at the hotel but they are alive, Vikas Swarup told AFP.

Gunmen went on a shooting rampage at the hotel on Friday, seizing 170 guests and staff in an ongoing hostage-taking that has left at least three people dead.

The foreign ministry spokesman said on Twitter that the Indian ambassador to Mali was ‘continuously in touch’ with the hostages and monitoring the situation.

The gunmen are believed to be jihadists who entered the hotel compound at around 0700 GMT in a car bearing diplomatic plates, according to security sources.