A witness who escaped from the Mali hotel where dozens of guests and staff were taken hostage Friday said he could hear the gunmen talking on the other side of his room door.
Guinean singer Sekouba 'Bambino' Diabate told NBC News that he had just finished his prayers when he heard gunshots ring around the Radisson Hotel in Bamako.
"Initially I thought they were linked with petty criminals," the 51-year-old jazz musician said, but a third shot "from a very heavy weapon" made him realize that this was more serious.
Diabate said that he overheard the attackers outside his room talking "in English with a Nigerian accent" about their weapons being loaded, he said.
"I heard them say in English: 'Did you load it?', 'Let's go," said Diabate, who hid under his bed listening to gunfire. Malian Police found him and got him out of the hotel.
