Stories of Survival And Tragedy From Mumbai

By now, you've read and seen a lot of coverage on the Mumbai Massacre. As a world traveler, what affects me the most are the personal stories of the victims interspersed among the more sensational reporting of the planning and execution of the attacks by the 10 well-trained terrorists. Here's a selection of stories I've come across:

From the New York Times:

36-year-old Australian lawyer James Benson left his 27th floor room at 10:15 pm on Wednesday night and was headed down the stairs of the Oberoi hotel when he ran into a bunch of people running back up. An Indian man named Ravi said that there had been a terrorist attack and that there was a lot of blood on the 14th floor. As they climbed back up the stairs, two large blasts rattled windows in the hotel. A Canadian IT specialist named Sebastian Gonzalez, reacting to the blasts, ran into the stairwell and bumped into Benson and Ravi on the way up. Gonzalez invited them and two other guests, a Northwest Airlines flight attendant named Daryll and a Frenchman named Philippe, to take shelter in this room. After piling themselves into Room 2324, they locked the door and barricaded in with furniture and a mattress, which they hoped would block any shrapnel from grenades set off by the terrorists on the loose in the hotel.

Then the wait began. They were able to watch TV and use the hotel phone and their cell phones to contact relatives, who in turn called back with information. They grew more concerned when the BBC reported that Americans and Britons were being targeted. From that point onward, the men had Ravi answer all phone calls. They lost TV reception at about 10 am on Thursday; on Thursday evening, they were phoned by hotel personnel who told them they would eventually be rescued.

As the hours wore on, the men grew hungry and thirsty. They shared a packet of cookies from the minibar. They drank the bottled water, then the soda. When they heard they were to be evacuated, they shifted to the beer and hard liquor. Around 11 am on Friday, help arrived and they were escorted from the hotel.


From the Belfast Telegraph:

In the attack at the Chhatrapati Shivaji railway station, what angered journalist Sebastian D'Souza were the masses of armed police hiding in the area who simply refused to shoot back. "There were armed policemen hiding all around the station but none of them did anything," he said. "At one point, I ran up to them and told them to use their weapons. I said, 'Shoot them, they're sitting ducks!' but they just didn't shoot back. What is the point if having policemen with guns if they refuse to use them? What is the point if having policemen with guns if they refuse to use them?"


Another story from the Belfast Telegraph:

The 28-year-old Paul Archer, in Mumbai for business, locked himself inside his room on the 14th floor of the Trident-Oberoi hotel after hearing explosions on Wednesday night. Though his TV stopped working, he was able to keep in touch with family and friends in India and at home and learn of the drama playing out all around him. "I did not believe it until I looked out of the window," he said, referring to the police he could see and the explosions he could hear. From time to time, he would look through the spyhole in his door to see if he could see anything or anyone. As it was he never saw any of the gunmen who had taken control of the hotel complex, or any of the bodies of those people killed. "You have to try to make light of the situation. You have to try to stay calm."


Also from the Belfast Telegraph:

Gill Stephen and a Hong Kong guest down the hall barricaded themselves inside room 2115 at the Trident-Oberoi during the entire seige. The two women locked the door to the room and forced it tight with luggage and furniture. To sustain them through the long hours, they turned to the mini-bar and made the best use of its peanuts and chocolate.

Although they were able to watch TV and access the internet, Stephen said she felt surreally cut off from the events taking place around her. But at times it was also terrifying; watching a television news report that said flames had taken hold of the hotel, she and the other woman placed wet towels across their faces. As it transpired, the fire did not get close so they removed the towels.

At another point, hearing a volley of shots and explosions, the pair of them climbed into the bath and covered themselves with pillows. After about five minutes they felt ridiculous and climbed out. There was another Brit in the hotel. He was on his own in a room and I think he was just randomly dialling other numbers to speak with people. I think it was harder for people on their own."

The most frightening moments had been the final hours as commandos cleared the hotel of gunmen. For them, the end came sometime after noon when the two women received a telephone call from hotel officials. They were told that there would soon be a knock on the door and that staff would collect them. "I opened the door and there was a mixture of people – police, hotel staff and commandos," she said.


From the Daily Mail:

An actor who played a terrorist in a British TV drama was among the Britons caught up in the violence. Joe Jeetun-- who played bomber Shehzad Tanweer in the dramatization of the London Tube attacks-- was in the Leopold cafe when terrorists burst in.

The 31-year-old said he owed his life to a stranger who pushed him to the floor as the firing started. "I heard a noise then this guy jumped on top of me and threw me on the floor. He said 'Get down, get down, don't speak'. I didn't know him but he saved my life. I just curled myself in the smallest ball I could and closed my eyes. I was covered in other people's blood and I think that is what saved me. I hoped that if I stayed still they would think I was already dead."


From the Sunday Telegraph:

The family of 73-year-old Andreas Liveras, the only known British fatality, told how he courageously evaded gunmen for eight hours in the Taj Mahal Palace hotel as he frantically tried to reassure his family that he was safe. Dion Liveras, the victim's son, said: "Even now, we find it beyond belief that he went out for a quiet meal – and lost his life.

"He had been able to contact us all by telephone and by text. All the time, he was reassuring us that he was okay. Eventually, however, the gunmen got into the room where my father was and sprayed bullets. He died from multiple wounds."

See here for a list of known victims (with personal information and circumstances of their deaths) as of Saturday night.