That's it from us today. Listen to the Africa Today podcast and keep up-to-date with developments in Burundi and across the continent on the BBC News website.

We leave you with this photo of police on duty in Tanzania's main city Dar es Salaam as regional leaders met to discuss the deepening crisis in Burundi:

Image source, AFP

Radio France International's Sonia Rolley in Burundi's capital Bujumbura tweets that, external the lights are off at the airport where the president's plane is due to land, and that demonstrators have left the road to the airport at the request of soldiers.

The BBC team in Burundi says that the privately owned Radio Bonesha is reporting that President Pierre Nkurunziza is headed to Uganda because he cannot land in Burundi.

There is no independent confirmation of the report.

Mr Nkurunziza was in Tanzania earlier today for talks with regional leaders, when army general Godefroid Niyombare announced that he had been overthrown.

A coup bid has been launched against Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza. A general who had been sacked as intelligence chief declared that the president had been ousted amid protests against his bid for a third term in June's elections. The presidency says the coup attempt has failed.

BBC News has this guide to Burundi's recent past - in under 50 seconds.

The situation in Burundi is "very fluid", UN chief Ban Ki-moon's spokesman has said.

Mr Ban is closely following developments in the country, Stephane Dujarric added.

A Burundian army general has said Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza has been overthrown. The government denies this.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon calls on all parties in Burundi to show calm and restraint, his spokesman says.

Earlier an army general said that President Pierre Nkurunziza had been overthrown. The government says the president is still in charge.

Troops loyal to Burundi's leader Pierre Nkurunziza are still in control of the presidential palace, state broadcaster and other key institutions, the AFP news agency reports.

Earlier, army general Godefroid Niyombare announced on private radio that he had overthrown Mr Nkurunziza.

Image source, AFP

Photos are coming in from Burundi's capital, Bujumbura, of people celebrating following the declaration of a coup by army general Godefroid Niyombare:

Image source, AFP

Celebrations are going on despite the fact that the government says the coup has failed:

Image source, AFP

Image source, AFP

Auguste, a young entrepreneur in Burundi's capital Bujumbura, has told BBC World Have Your Say that he was happy when he heard about the attempted coup:

"What went through my mind today? That finally I was free. Burundians have reclaimed their dignity. We are not slaves.

"Nkurunziza had to go. We were tired of his leadership."

Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza will address the nation when he returns from Tanzania, his spokesman Willy Nyamitwe has told the BBC.

Coup-plotter Gen Godefroid Niyombare has launched a bid to prevent Mr Nkurunziza from returning.

"I order the closure of the airport and border and I ask every citizen and law enforcement down to the airport to protect it," he said in a radio broadcast in Burundi, the AFP news agency reports.

Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza is flying back home, Tanzania's government spokesman Salva Rweyemamu has confirmed to the AFP news agency.

"He has left because of the situation prevailing in Burundi," Mr Rweyemamu added.

Image source, AFP

Burundi's coup bid leader Gen Godefroid Niyombare has ordered troops loyal to him to secure the airport in the capital, Bujumbura, tweets, external RFI reporter Daniel Finnan.

Here's a photo from Burundi's capital, Bujumbura, of soldiers celebrating a coup declaration:

Image source, AP

Kenya's presidential spokesman Manoah Esipisu has tweeted, external that regional leaders want to ensure that "respect for the rule of law endures" in Burundi after an army general announced that President Pierre Nkurunziza had been overthrown.

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta and other East African leaders were in Tanzania to discuss the Burundian crisis, when the coup declaration was made in Burundi's capital, Bujumbura.

Mr Nkurunziza was also at the talks.

Image source, AFP

Anne Soy
BBC Africa, Dar es Salaam

The East African Community "condemns the coup in Burundi" and calls for a return to constitutional order, says EAC chairman and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, addressing media at State House in Dar es Salaam.

A new statement has been posted on the Facebook page of the Burundian presidency, external, posted at 14:20 GMT (translated from French):

"It is with regret that we have learned that a group of soldiers rebelled this morning and made a fake declaration about a coup. The Presidency of the Republic wants the public opinion both in Burundi and abroad to know that this coup attempt has been stopped and that the people who read that statement on private local radio are being sought by the defence and security forces so that they are brought to justice. The Presidency of the Republic is asking the people of Burundi as well as foreigners to keep calm. Everything is being done to maintain security across the national territory."

Here is what we know about Gen Godefroid Niyombare, the 46-year-old coup bid leader, who was once an ally of Burundi's President Pierre Nkrunziza:

• Former rebel CNDD-FDD commander

• First ethnic Hutu army chief - a significant step in reconciliation efforts

• A negotiator in peace talks with last rebel group FNL

• Oversaw Burundi's deployment to Somalia as part of African force

• Served as an ambassador to Kenya

• Dismissed as intelligence chief in February, three months after his appointment

• His dismissal came days after he advised against the third-term bid

The BBC's Maxime Le Hegarat has sent photos from Burundi's capital, Bujumbura, of a group of soldiers in tanks driving towards the city centre, flanked by large crowds of demonstrators.

He says that police have been fleeing as the crowds advance.

Ruth Nesoba
BBC Africa, Bujumbura

Protesters who had been detained in recent demonstrations have been freed from the national prison in Burundi's capital, Bujumbura, after people broke into the jail, according to a BBC colleague at the scene.

Those involved also set fire to the jail.

Burundi's presidential spokesman Willy Nyamitwe has told the BBC that forces loyal to President Pierre Nkurunziza are are still in control.

General Godefroid Niyombare and his allies were being sought by the security forces, he said. The office of president ordered all Burundians and foreigners to keep calm, he said.

More than 95% of country is normal and quiet, Mr Nyamitwe added.

"I'm not worried about my own safety because the loyalist forces are in full control. "

He said that he believes President Nkurunziza is on his way home from Tanzania.