Seventeen alleged coup plotters appeared before a prosecutor in Burundi on Saturday, their lawyer said, the day after the failure of an attempt to overthrow the country's president.

The group included General Cyrille Ndayirukiye and top police commissioners Zenon Ndabaneze and Hermenegilde Nimenya, who are accused of "attempting to overthrow the state", lawyer Anatole Miburo said.

Coup leader Godefroid Niyombare, a general and ex-intelligence chief, was said to be still at large.