Interviews , posts and excerpts about the Mumbai terror attacks

It's close to 48 hours since the terror attacks struck Mumbai and the war between the commandos and the terrorists is still on at the Taj and Nariman point . Evacuvations have been in progress and there are interviews from those of them who had been at the point of attacks in the papers and internet.

Here are a few interviews from the people who had to undergo the ordeals of the mumbai terror attacks but are now back safe , few excerpts from the internet and the papers which I would like to share it with you all.

Message from Ratan Tata , Chairman Tata Sons .
The terrible wanton attacks last night [26 November 2008] on innocent people and the destruction of prominent landmarks in India deserve to be universally condemned. My sympathies and condolences go out to all those who have suffered, been injured, and those who have lost their loved ones in this terrible act of hatred and destruction.We cannot replace the lives that have been lost and we will never forget the terrifying events of last night, but we must stand together, shoulder to shoulder as citizens of India, and rebuild what has been destroyed. We must show that we cannot be disabled or destroyed, but that such heinous acts will only make us stronger. It is important that we do not allow divisive forces to weaken us. We need to overcome these forces as one strong unified nation.

Vice-chairman of Tata Group’s Indian Hotels, RK Krishna Kumar firmly commits to rebuilding the Taj and salutes the spirit of his employees.
Click here to read his message to the media.

With this kind of determination and the amount of compassion the staff of Taj has shown towards their custoner I'm sure the brand will go a long way.

This excerpt is from Rashmi Bhansal's comment section on her blog where Prof. Eric has shared his experience.

Well, Dear Friends - I made it, although it was a bit exciting at times.Thank you SO much for being so concerned!I am sure I will embroider and lengthen the story over time (and try to convinceyou to listen) - but the VERY short form is that I am now safe in Amedabad.

The slightly longer tale is that quite a few explosions and gunshots andconfusion started about 10:30PM last night and woke me up in my Mumbai hotelroom. Smoke started coming in under the door and my room fire alarm went off.The hotel room windows were the sealed-shut type and I began to hear people inother rooms trying to smash the glass with heavy blows. By the crashes, Icould also hear that some succeeded - I guess by using furniture.All of this began to suggest to me that something was slightly amiss :) But Ihad no idea that people were taking hostages in the lobby restaurants and soon. No news came from the hotel staff, who probably had their hands fullbecause they were in the lobby where the gunmen entered.I opened my room door and found that outside the room the smoke was REALLY thickand maybe the lighting was off too - in any case, you could not see your hand infront of you. Probably the smoke spread everywhere so completely because thelobby level, where the explosions were going on, was the base of an open atriumextending up 20 stories.

So I closed the door again and thought things over. I was on the 16th floor.The air outside my room felt hot but not very hot. Still, I didn't knowwhether there was a fire below me - not a good thing - or what floor it mightbe on. But I decided I would try to get out of there rather than smash windowsand try to stay. I found my passport and a couple of other things, got a wettowel over my nose and mouth and left the room. The towel worked really well,and things were pretty straight-forward after that. I felt along the wall to afire stair exit - the exit sign was lit - opened the door and started down. Thesmoke was very thick there too, but I could move along pretty quickly because,amazingly, there seemed to be no one else in the stairwell.

Got outside and saw groups of police standing around and not doing much despiteall the yelling and window-smashing going on. I could hear occasionalexplosions from inside our hotel lobby and also from other nearby sites. Withall that going on, they probably did not know what to do. I decided to getaway from the hotel and try to get to the airport, but the police had otherideas - they wanted us to stay in a protected area away from the shooting.

After a bit I met a reporter in the crowd, who took my photo, interviewed me,and asked about what I wanted to do. I told her I wanted to try to get to theairport, and she said no problem: as a reporter she could get us through thepolice line. I followed her - and, as she predicted, no one stopped us as wepassed through the police. After a half-mile or so of walking, we found a cab, and we started for the airport. We went though 3 roadblocks successfully and that was that! I arrived at theairport, emailed to Jessie that I was safe, and all's well that ends well.

You can read similar interviews here and here.

Hoping there are no more losses of life and the attacks end at the earliest.