How I Escaped the Terrorist Attack

Working for the hotel's banqueting department, a young man describes the dramatic phases of the attack and mourns the death of a friend and colleague.

MUMBAI (AsiaNews) - "Around 9.35 PM, we heard a loud sound and the shattering of glass; we thought that there was an accident and that something had crashed. Immediately we were informed that terrorists were inside the hotel, shooting people with AK 57's and hurling hand grenades." This is how Melville Furtardo, a member of the Taj Mahal banqueting department, began his story, telling AsiaNews about those first moments when the hotel came under attack late Wednesday evening.

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Furtado, 22, a hotel management graduate, was in the Gateway Room of the Taj Hotel, one of Mumbai's poshest hotels, attending to a VIP party of 80 guests.

"Immediately we were given instructions from our banqueting manager to lock all the doors. As we were locking the doors, around five Australian guests rushed into our Gateway Room from the Sea Lounge on the first floor where the terrorists had opened fire. These Australians were terrified and we managed to calm them down."

After that, he tried to reassure people and the guests did all they could to be co-operative. Silence descended on the hall, punctuated only by sound of machine guns and the explosion of grenades.

For Furtado the terrorists "knew their way around" the hotel very well. They entered the kitchen and shot all the chefs, "most of whom are now either dead or wounded." The chefs who were in the banquet hall "kept vigil at the door with their carving knives."

"Around 1.30 am, we heard such a loud explosion that the chandeliers in our Gateway Room fell. We were terrified; it was as if an earthquake had rocked the Taj. The people in the room half expected the hotel to cave in."

Around 3 am, guests were told by hotel security that terrorists had occupied the upper floors of the building and that there was a fire on the 5th and 6th floors--a staff member opened the door and balls of fire spewed from the burning dome.

"We desperately tried to break open the window with the curtain rods and chairs, everyone helped, staff and guests, all pooled in to help each other," Furtado said. "After much struggle, we managed to crack the glass pane of the window."

By the time the fire was extinguished and the ladder placed at the broken window pane, people began crawling out; guests first, followed by the staff. Furtado was among the last to leave, concerned first about the guests' safety.

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After being evacuated at around 4 am everyone from the Gateway Room banquet hall were taken to the Willingdon Hotel, about ten minutes away.

At this point in the young man's story, words became heavy with sadness for the loss of a friend and colleague.

"As we approached the Willingdon, there was a huge explosion, which shattered the glass panes and the chandeliers of the Taj Hotel. Tragically our general manager, Karambir Kang, and his wife and small children were burnt to death in the fire that engulfed the building. They were living in hotel's staff quarters."