Following the terrorist attack in the capital of Burkina Faso, the Italian Foreign Ministry immediately started investigating on the condition of approximately 100 Italian nationals who were reported to be in the capital, in order to verify their state of health and offer them assistance.
The information collected made it possible to confirm that the nine-year-old son of Gaetano Santomenna, the Italian owner of the Cappuccino Restaurant, at the time of the attack was inside the restaurant together with his mother, a foreign national.
The Burkina Faso authorities are still conducting operations to formally identify the bodies of the numerous victims of the attack. The process might prove to be lengthy as it involves a large number of casualties from several countries. The identification process is being directly followed by the Italian Honorary Consul and by the personnel of the Italian Embassy in Côte d’Ivoir, which has jurisdiction over Burkina Faso, who have been assuring continuous assistance to the fellow Italian citizen and his family from immediately after the attack.
