Malian troops take position outside the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako on Nov. 20, 2015. Gunmen went on a shooting rampage at the luxury hotel in Mali's capital Bamako, seizing 170 guests and staff in an ongoing hostage-taking that has left at least three people dead.HABIBOU KOUYATE/AFP / Getty Images
When the armed men burst into his room at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Bamako, Maxime Carrier-Légaré wondered whether he was facing the terrorists who had unleashed a deadly attack in the Malian capital Friday.
But they were instead people who had come to save him.
Mr. Carrier-Légaré, an employee of the Quebec National Assembly, was among several Canadians who were rescued after gunmen affiliated with al-Qaeda shot their way into the hotel.
Several guests, including Mr. Carrier-Légaré and an employee of the House of Commons, Patrice Martin, were part of a delegation meeting local parliamentarians, ahead of a gathering of the Francophonie organization.
Another Canadian was Pierre Boivin, a lawyer with expertise in deals involving natural resources in Africa. His firm, McCarthy Tétrault, confirmed he was safe but wouldn't comment further.
Two Canadian mining companies, B2Gold Corp. and Endeavour Mining Corp., said they had a total of three employees in the hotel at the time of the attack.
In a statement, the federal government said all Canadians known to be at the hotel were safe.
Witnesses said the assault began around 6 a.m. as gunshots were heard in the hotel.
Quebec legislature Speaker Jacques Chagnon, who spoke to Mr. Carrier-Légaré, said the Quebecker hid in his hotel room for three hours.
Smoke started filling his room, forcing Mr. Carrier-Légaré to cover his face with a wet bedsheet. Armed men in civilian clothes then knocked down the door.
"He thought they were al-Qaeda members," Mr. Chagnon said. Instead, they were security forces, who removed him and other guests amid gunfire.
"I saw bodies in the lobby," Mr. Carrier-Légaré told a France 24 radio reporter after fleeing the hotel. "It's rather horrible what's happening this morning."
While Mr. Carrier-Légaré is an employee of the Quebec legislature, he had been seconded to the Francophonie organization in Paris, legislature spokesperson Noémie Simon-Mattar said.
Mr. Martin, the House of Commons employee, is a former Gatineau city councillor who is now acting deputy principal clerk at the Canadian parliament. He was in Mali on a support mission with local parliamentarians, said Commons spokeswoman Heather Bradley.
Mr. Carrier-Légaré and Mr. Martin were part of a contingent ahead of a Francophonie cultural forum that was to begin Saturday.
Francophonie Secretary-General Michaëlle Jean, the former Canadian governor-general, was to arrive Saturday for the gathering but the event is expected to be cancelled.
Parti Québécois MNA Carole Poirier was also expected to leave for the forum but her trip was scrubbed, party spokeswoman Antonine Yaccarini said.
With reports from Ian McGugan and Affan Chowdhry in Toronto
Tu Thanh Ha