'Words cannot express the horror and waste, she was killed in a place she loved': German culture official among 18 people slaughtered by al Qaeda terrorists in Ivory Coast gun terror

  • WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
  • Terrorists with AK-47s and hand grenades stormed a resort in Ivory Coast
  • Shooters in balaclavas opened fire on guests at the L'Etoile du Sud hotel
  • 18 people, including Henrike Grohs from Germany, were killed in the attack
  • Tributes have been paid to Ms Grohs, who was director of Goethe-Institut

Terrorists armed with AK-47s and hand grenades slaughtered 18 people in a tourist resort in Ivory Coast, including a German national who 'dedicated her life to making the world a better place'.

Tributes have been paid to Henrike Grohs, the director of the Goethe-Institut in the country who was killed by al Qaeda terrorists in the historic town of Grand Bassam yesterday.

Ms Grohs, 51, died alongside 15 others, including a French citizen and two other Europeans, and a five-year-old boy who fell to his knees and prayed for his life after the attackers stormed the resort.

Paying tribute to her friend, artist Virginia Ryan wrote on Facebook: 'Henrike dedicated her life to creating cultural links, to making the world a better place though art and culture.

'Words cannot express the horror and waste, that she could be killed in a place she loved so much, with people she also loved so much.R.I.P.' 

Scroll down for video 

Tributes: Henrike Grohs, the director of the Goethe-Institut in Ivory Coast was killed in the terrorist attack on Sunday. A friend said she 'dedicated her life to the world a better place though art and culture'

Tributes: Henrike Grohs, the director of the Goethe-Institut in Ivory Coast was killed in the terrorist attack yesterday. A friend said she 'dedicated her life to the world a better place though art and culture'

Friend: Virginia Ryan (centre) wrote on Facebook: 'Words cannot express the horror and waste, that she could be killed in a place she loved so much.' Henrike Grohs (right) died alongside 15 others, including three other Europeans

Friend: Virginia Ryan (centre) wrote on Facebook: 'Words cannot express the horror and waste, that she could be killed in a place she loved so much.' Henrike Grohs (right) died alongside 15 others, including three other Europeans

Security forces and members of the Ivorian Red Cross were pictured dragging the dead bodies from the blood stained sand earlier today

Attack: Security forces and members of the Ivorian Red Cross were pictured dragging the dead bodies from the blood stained sand at the tourist resort yesterday

Graphic images showed seven dead bodies scattered across the beach in the resort town of Grand Bassam

Graphic images showed seven dead bodies scattered across the beach in the resort town of Grand Bassam

Speaking to MailOnline from her home in Italy, Ms Ryan added: 'She was independent, loving, kind and generous.

'She was someone who used art and culture to promote peace. She will be really sorely missed.' 

Moataz Nasreldin added: ‘Every time I lose a dear friend I insist to remind everyone not to waste time and call your beloved ones now, tomorrow is an illusion, we only live the now!

‘Goodbye Henrike Grohs, I wish I was able to hug u before u leave!’

Speaking to MailOnline, Rwandan photographer Jacques Nkinzingabo, who met Ms Grohs at a photographic festival in Mali, said: ‘She showed me a way of life and she opened my eyes in photography. She liked to help young people in Africa achieve their goals.' 

Ms Grohs had headed the Abidjan branch of the Goethe-Institut - a German cultural association - since December 2013, previously working as a culture and development consultant at the Goethe-Institut Johannesburg.

According to a statement from the institute, the Africa expert developed 'many successful cultural projects in Côte d'Ivoire together with Ivorian partners'.

The ethnologist was the project manager of a programme with Berlin Philharmonic between 2002 and 2009. She was unmarried and had no children.

Klaus-Dieter Lehmann, the president of the Goethe-Institut, said in a statement: 'It is terrible that a woman who campaigned for a meaningful life with all her strength had to die so senselessly.' 

Weapons: Grenades and ammunition pictured on the beach close to L'Etoile du Sud hotel. Al Qaeda terrorists armed with AK-47s and grenades killed 18 people in the attack yesterday

Weapons: Grenades and ammunition pictured on the beach close to L'Etoile du Sud hotel. Al Qaeda terrorists armed with AK-47s and grenades killed 18 people in the attack yesterday

Shocking: One survivor of yesterday's attack said: 'They killed a child despite him kneeling down and begging'. Pictured: Locals gather at the crime scene today

Shocking: One survivor of yesterday's attack said: 'They killed a child despite him kneeling down and begging'. Pictured: Locals gather at the crime scene today

Johannes Ebert, the secretary general of the institute, added: 'We are stunned that Henrike Grohs was torn so tragically and cruelly from life. 

'She loved her work and was full of ideas, and full of energy to implement these ideas. Our thoughts are with her family and colleagues in Abidjan.' 

One unnamed French citizen died in the massacre.

A survivor of yesterday's attack has described the horrifying moment a boy was shot dead.

'They killed a child despite him kneeling down and begging,' they said. 'They shot a woman in the chest. They've killed innocent people.'

Another witness, Marcel Guy, said a man with a long beard spoke to two children in Arabic and spared the life of the one who was able to recite an Islamic prayer.

'The Christian boy was shot and killed right in front of my eyes,' Mr Guy said.  

An armed Ivorian policeman looks at the body of a man on the beach near L'Etoile du Sud hotel in Grand Bassam, Ivory Coast

An armed Ivorian policeman looks at the body of a man on the beach near L'Etoile du Sud hotel in Grand Bassam, Ivory Coast

A soldier comforts an injured boy in Grand Bassam after terrorists killed 18 people in a resort in Ivory Coast

A soldier comforts an injured boy in Grand Bassam after terrorists killed 18 people in a resort in Ivory Coast

Of the 18 people who were gunned down in the resort popular with Westerners, 15 were civilians and three were special forces soldiers, Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara said. 

He added: 'I am very proud of our security forces who reacted so fast... The toll could've been much heavier.'

Ivory Coast's Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko said only three attackers were killed, not the six that was claimed on Sunday.

Henrike dedicated her life to creating cultural links, to making the world a better place though art and culture
Friend Virginia Ryan

The heavily armed, balaclava-clad shooters shouted 'Allah Akbar' before they opened fired on guests at the L'Etoile du Sud [Southern Star] hotel, which was full of expats at the time.

Graphic images showed several dead bodies, some of whom are thought to be French tourists, scattered across the beach near the hotel. 

Security forces and members of the Ivorian Red Cross were pictured dragging the dead bodies from the blood-stained sand yesterday.

Jacques Able, the owner of L'Etoile du Sud, confirmed at least one person was killed in his hotel.

Footage from a different hotel's balcony showed people running for their lives as the shooters tried to gun down other unarmed holidaymakers.  

The country's Government said six armed men have been 'neutralised' following attacks on a hotel (pictured, children walk past the body of someone killed in an attack)

The country's Government said six armed men have been 'neutralised' following attacks on a hotel (pictured, children walk past the body of someone killed in an attack)

People carry the body of a victim following after gunmen went on a shooting rampage in the Ivory Coast resort of Grand-Bassam

People carry the body of a victim after gunmen went on a rampage in the Ivory Coast resort of Grand Bassam

Among the 18 people killed in Bassam were civilians, including a five-year-old boy, and several special forces soldiers

Among the 18 people killed were 14 civilians, including a five-year-old boy, and two special forces soldiers

Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara said the 'toll could have been much heavier' (pictured, the Ivorian Red Cross carry a dead body from the beach)

Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara said the 'toll could have been much heavier' (pictured, the Ivorian Red Cross carry a dead body from the beach)

Locals help a badly injured victim on to the back of a backup truck following the sudden terror attack

Locals help a badly injured victim onto the back of a backup truck following the terror attack in Ivory Coast

Grand Bassam was once the colonial capital of Ivory Coast and remains a popular site for ex-pats

Grand Bassam was once the colonial capital of Ivory Coast and remains a popular site for ex-pats

Terror group Al Qaeda in the Maghreb has claimed responsibility for the attack through one of their social media accounts, but this has not been independently verified.

Several French nationals may have been killed in the deadly attack, with witnesses describing how the gunmen arrived on the beach by boat.

Josiane Sekongo, 25, who lives across from one of the town's many beachfront hotels, described the shocking moment the attack took place.

She ran outside after hearing gunfire and saw people sprinting away from the beach to hide in their homes, moments before the security forces arrived.

Dramane Kima a local who filmed the bodies on the shore, added: 'I saw seven dead that I filmed. There were four attackers. I was swimming when it started and I ran away.'

He also took photos of grenades and ammunition thought to have been left behind by the attackers. 

A spokeswoman for the UK Foreign Office said officials were 'urgently' trying to establish whether any British nationals were harmed at the resort, a popular site for expats.

One of the victims of the shocking attack in Grand Bassam, where gunmen opened fire on the beach

One of the victims of the shocking attack in Grand Bassam, where gunmen opened fire on the beach

An AFP journalist saw around a dozen people, including an injured Western woman, being driven away in a military truck

An AFP journalist saw around a dozen people, including an injured Western woman, being driven away in a military truck

Unconfirmed reports have emerged that several French nationals may have been killed in the deadly attack

Unconfirmed reports have emerged that several French nationals may have been killed in the deadly attack

The terrorists were reportedly targeting a U.S. delegation led by Assistant Secretary of Commerce Marcus Jadotte, Fox News reported.

The American embassy in the capital Abidjan, which was monitoring the situation closely today, said there was no evidence that U.S. citizens were being targeted, nor were there any reports of them being harmed. 

I have always said that Abidjan [Ivory Coast] and Dakar [Senegal] are the next targets for jihadist groups because these two countries represent windows of France in Africa
Lemine Ould Salem, terrorism expert

Mr Jadotte was visiting Ivory Coast with a group of Americans which included college recruiters from the University of Florida. They had not arrived at L'Etoile du Sud when the attack took place. 

The attack was the third time in recent months that a West African tourist hot spot has been besieged by gunmen. 

Dozens were killed during a siege at a Malian hotel in November, followed by an assault on a hotel and cafe in Burkina Faso in January.

The Burkinabe president Roch Kabore released a statement yesterday condemning the terror attack in Ivory Coast.

'I condemns in the strongest terms, the terrorist attacks which have just hit the city of Grand Bassam. I reaffirms the solidarity of Burkina Faso with the fraternal people of côte d'Ivoire. 

'My condolences to the families of the victims and to the Ivorian nation and my best wishes for a speedy recovery to the injured. Together, we will come to the end of terrorism,' he said. 

The heavily armed, balaclava clad shooters opened fired on guests at the L'Etoile du Sud [Southern Star] hotel (pictured) which was full of expats

The heavily armed, balaclava clad shooters opened fired on guests at the L'Etoile du Sud [Southern Star] hotel (pictured) which was full of expats

Survivors comfort each other near the beach where balaclava clad shooters opened fire on helpless tourists

Survivors comfort each other near the beach where balaclava clad shooters opened fire on helpless tourists

Ivorian special forces raced to the scene of the devastating attack in the town of Grand Bassam

Analysts have warned for months that Ivory Coast, which shares a border with both those countries, could be a potential target by jihadists as well.

'I have always said that Abidjan [Ivory Coast] and Dakar [Senegal] are the next targets for jihadist groups because these two countries represent windows of France in Africa,' said terrorism expert Lemine Ould Salem.

He said the attackers could be from the ISIS-affiliated Boko Haram terror group that has killed thousands across Africa over several years. 

Home to some 80,000 people, Grand-Bassam holds UNESCO World Heritage status thanks to its elegant colonial-era facades. The town has several hotels frequented by expats.