Sherbrooke woman dith Blais, abducted in Burkina Faso, found alive in Mali

A Canadian woman and her Italian travelling companion who weresuspected to have been abducted in West Africa 15 months ago have been found.

dith Blais, 34 of Sherbrooke, Que., and Luca Tacchetto 30, hadbeen travelling by car in southwestern Burkina Faso, heading to Togo to do volunteer work, when they vanished around Dec. 15, 2018.They were last seen in the city of Bobo-Dioulassoin southwestern Burkino Faso.

The United Nations mission in Mali,MINUSMA, confirmed to CBCNews that the pair is now free in neighbouring Mali.

Mahamat Saleh Annadif, the head of MINUSMA, said preliminary information suggested Blais and Tacchettoescaped their captors. A civilian vehicle then found them near Kidal and took them to a United Nations camp, he said.

Global Affairs Canada said it's aware of the report of their release.

"We look forward to dith being able to return to Canada and reunite with her family and loved ones,"Foreign Affairs Minister Franois-Philippe Champagne said in a statement Saturday.

"The government of Canada will continue to engage Mali and Burkina Faso at the highest levels, and will work with international partners to pursue those responsible for this crime and bring them to justice."

Al-Qaeda and other militant groups have operated in northern Mali for more than a decade and have kidnapped a number of Westernhostages, typically holding them until ransoms are paid.

Senior Liberal cabinet ministers met with Blais's family in Quebec's Eastern Townships region in January2019 and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at the time he believed Blais was stillalive.

Another Canadian, Kirk Woodman, was found dead in northern Burkina Faso in 2019, near the border with Mali and Niger. Anexecutive with a Vancouver-based mining company, Woodman had beenkidnapped a day earlier by gunmen as he worked on a gold miningproject.