A Ukrainian escaped from a hotel hostage standoff in Mali Friday, telling soldiers that three South Africans and a Russian were with him when gunmen stormed the building.

Eight people were killed, two of them soldiers, when the suspected jihadists stormed the hotel, popular with foreigners in the central town of Sevare, a military source said.

The Ukrainian, who managed to slip out of the hotel in the afternoon, three South Africans and a Russian were with him when the drama started.