Rezidor President & CEO Wolfgang M. Neumann is visiting Bamako in Mali following the hostage-taking at Radisson Blu. He issued the following statement:
?All of us are devastated by the hostage-taking at the Radisson Blu Hotel Bamako in Mali on Friday, 20th November where 22 of our hotel guests and employees sadly lost their lives.
?I write this update from Bamako where I am joined by our support teams who are on the ground since Friday. Together, we met with the families of the three deceased hotel employees to express our deepest sympathy on behalf of the entire Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group. We assured the families about the immediate emergency support that we are offering. We also visited injured team members in the hospital to offer any assistance they may need from us.
?Parallel to my visit and in close cooperation with the local embassies, our corporate team in Europe is contacting our guests who were at the hotel last Friday to take care of their needs.
?Together with Cesse Kome, owner of the hotel, I also met with our hotel team. We paid tribute to the colleagues we have lost, underlined our solidarity and our commitment to Bamako. We will re-open the Radisson Blu hotel as soon as possible to welcome our international guests again to Mali.
?We were welcomed by Ibrahim Boubacar Ke?ta, President of the Republic of Mali, and expressed our sincere gratitude towards the local government, the authorities, the forces and services that rescued the people after the hostage-taking.
?Together with the people of Mali, we are living our company value of ?Fighting Z-pirit?. We will overcome this tragic event and re-establish Radisson Blu hospitality in Bamako.?