Burundi presidency says attempted coup 'failed'

African nation Burundi's presidency issued a statement on its Twitter account on Wednesday, saying a coup attempt has "failed."

"The situation is under control," the presidency said, reiterating that "there had been no coup d'etat in Burundi".

Witnesses told Xinhua news agency that pro-president soldiers took control of the state broadcaster and fired warning shots over the heads of protesters.

The presidency said earlier President Pierre Nkurunziza and his high level delegation in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, were discussing how to handle the attempted coup.

Early on Wednesday afternoon, former head of Burundi's National Intelligence, Maj. Gen. Godefroid Niyombare, announced that the army had overthrown President Nkurunziza who is in Tanzania attending a regional summit to discuss the Burundi crisis.