Baltimore Man Survives Terrorist Attack In West Africa

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A Baltimore man who works at Johns Hopkins caught up in the middle of a terrorist attack in a hotel in Burkina Faso in West Africa.

Edward Bunker is recounting how he escaped the attack that left more than two dozen people dead.

Derek Valcourt with more on his close call with terrorist killers.

When three heavily armed al-Qaeda linked terrorists stormed the Splendid Hotel and a nearby cafe in the West African country of Burkina Faso, they set off two car bombs and opened fire in the cafe, killing at least 28 people, including a Canadian family of four that was on a humanitarian trip.

Edward Bunker, a staff member with the Baltimore-based Hopkins affiliate Jhpiego, was inside his hotel room unaware of the raid until he went down to the lobby.

"There was someone with a gun going down the street. And this was really the moment when I kind of realized that there was something majorly amiss," said Bunker.

Bunker returned to his room and used wi-fi to make contact with officials at Johns Hopkins, who urged him to lock himself in the bathroom, where he hid throughout the night.

About nine hours later, he and other guests were being escorted out of the hotel by soldiers.

"Suddenly, there was another round of gunfire, and we were told to get down for five to ten minutes. Lying on the floor with incoming fire and protected by soldiers, I felt it was the closet I was ever going to get to experiencing combat," he told the BBC.

Bunker was among 11 Americans who survived the ordeal.

Authorities identified 45-year-old Michael James Riddering, who worked with his wife at a West African orphanage, as the sole American killed in the attacks.

Bunker credits the Hopkins team and their security consultants with giving him good information to help him get through the ordeal.

No one with Jhpiego was available to speak with WJZ for this story.