In neighbouring Ivory Coast the presidency confirmed reports that Compaore, who left Ouagadougou on Friday according to French diplomats, was in the country.
A local resident said he saw a motorcade of around 30 cars heading for a luxury hotel in the Ivorian capital, which is also used as a semi-official residence for foreign dignitaries.
“The services of the President hotel in Yamoussoukro served him (Compaore) dinner yesterday (Friday) and breakfast this morning (Saturday),” according to a hotel employee.
– Gearing up for fresh protests –
In the Burkina Faso capital, calm returned to the streets with shops reopening, but several residents told AFP they were already gearing up for fresh protests.
“We are completely against soldiers taking power,” said Salif Ouedraogo, a 38-year-old insurance agent.
“We want a civilian as head of state and tomorrow we are going to regroup at Revoluation Square to say no to military power. Even if it means that there would be bloodshed.”
Opposition figures have said around 30 people were killed in Thursday’s violence, while AFP could only confirm four deaths.
“It’s always the same people who are in power. Even though it was us, civilians, who carried out the struggle,” he said.
Others were more positive.
Adama Zongo, a trader said he was also concerned by Zida’s claim to power as the presidential guard was close to Compaore.
“We should give (Zida) time. Those who don’t want a soldier in power, who do they want?” asked Gildas Zongo, a student.
The uprising was sparked by plans to change the constitution to allow Compaore to stand once again for elections next year.
Defying massive protests, Compaore initially rejected calls to resign.
He eventually withdrew plans for a vote on the constitutional changes but vowed to stay in power for another year, before announcing on Friday that he was stepping down.
France’s President Francois Hollande said Paris would “contribute to calming” the situation in Burkina Faso, while Washington urged “a transfer of power in accordance with the constitution”.
The EU called for the people of Burkina Faso to have the final say in who rules their country.
Compaore was only 36 when he seized power in a 1987 coup in which his former friend Thomas Sankara was ousted and assassinated.
His bid to hold on to power particularly angered young people in a country where 60 percent of the population of almost 17 million is under 25.
Many have grown up under the leadership of one man and are disillusioned by the establishment that has led a country which is languishing at 181st out of 187 countries on the UN human development index.
Known in colonial times as Upper Volta, the country won independence from France in 1960 and its name was changed to Burkina Faso (“the land of upright men”) in 1984.
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