Couple kidnapped in B. Faso found alive in Mali - 2 years later

A Canadian woman and her Italian partner kidnapped in Burkina Faso in 2018 have been found in good health after escaping captivity.

Tedith Blais and Luca Tacchetto, both in their thirties, managed to escape their captors near the northern city of Kidal on Friday and were taken to the local base of the UN mission in Mali.

The pair were then flown out on Saturday afternoon on a special plane to Mali’s capital Bamako. They were taken to the presidential palace where they met president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita before being repatriated.

The couple in December 2018 disappeared while travelling through the west African country. They were driving by car to Ouagadougou from Bobo-Dioulasso, more than 360 kilometres west of the capital, when they were kidnapped.