My 6-floor dash to safety
Mr Rahul Welde, a senior executive at a multinational corporation based in Singapore, was staying at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel on the night of Nov 26 when gunmen stormed the hotel. The 40-year-old Mumbaiker recounts his escape:
"At 10pm I heard guns being fired. I looked out of the window in my room and saw two people by the poolside, one of them was lying in a pool of blood.
The news channel on TV said there was a gang war going on. But, about 30 minutes later, the hotel turned off the TVs. At about 10.45pm, the lights went off and guests were told to lock their doors.
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For the next hour, I kept hearing gunshots, explosions and screams. I kept SMSing my friends in Mumbai who were relaying information from the news channels to me.
At about 2am, a fire started in one of the rooms on my floor. I was on the sixth floor - my room number was 666 - it was the worst floor to be on, I think.
At about 3.30am, lots of smoke started coming into my room and I decided to make a dash for it rather than die of smoke and fire. I called my wife and told her the situation. Before I made a run for it, I also sent a text message to my friend to let him know what I was going to do.
He called the hotel and whoever spoke to him told him that I should stay in my room as there were terrorists in the building. By the time he called me to tell me that, I had left my room. Thank God I didn't pick up his call. I don't know what would have happened if I had stayed in my room.
The corridor was thick with smoke, but thanks to a friend who advised me, I had wrapped a wet blanket around my face. I saw the glow of the fire exit sign and ran to it like a mad man. All I kept thinking of were my twin boys and my wife.
Somehow, by God's grace, I managed to run down six floors and didn't meet a single terrorist on the way.
When I came out of the building, it was surrounded by the police who kept shouting at me to put my hands up. I shouted back saying I was a hotel guest. They frisked me and took me to an ambulance where I was wrapped in a blanket and given a warm drink.
It was simply harrowing. When I came back to Singapore, I slept for two days straight. I am just thankful to God that I am alive and I am not going to take anything for granted."
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Mr Rahul Welde, a senior executive at a multinational corporation based in Singapore, was staying at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel on the night of Nov 26 when gunmen stormed the hotel. The 40-year-old Mumbaiker recounts his escape:
"At 10pm I heard guns being fired. I looked out of the window in my room and saw two people by the poolside, one of them was lying in a pool of blood.
The news channel on TV said there was a gang war going on. But, about 30 minutes later, the hotel turned off the TVs. At about 10.45pm, the lights went off and guests were told to lock their doors.
<A HREF="http://ads.asia1.com.sg/event.ng/Type=click&FlightID=14922&AdID=21494&TargetID=2065&Segments=1,81,238,564,999,1779,1780,1784,2000,2061,2130,2355,2410,2428&Targets=2065,1720,2838&Values=30,50,60,85,91,100,110,130,150,186,196,266,942,969,990,1480,1487,2253,2762,2807,2865,2908,2920,4074,4103,4118,4120,4334,4337,4342,5599,5640,5663&RawValues=&Redirect=http:%2f%2fnewslink.asiaone.com" target="_blank"><IMG SRC="http://adimage.asia1.com.sg/2003/dot.gif" WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=250 BORDER=0></A>
For the next hour, I kept hearing gunshots, explosions and screams. I kept SMSing my friends in Mumbai who were relaying information from the news channels to me.
At about 2am, a fire started in one of the rooms on my floor. I was on the sixth floor - my room number was 666 - it was the worst floor to be on, I think.
At about 3.30am, lots of smoke started coming into my room and I decided to make a dash for it rather than die of smoke and fire. I called my wife and told her the situation. Before I made a run for it, I also sent a text message to my friend to let him know what I was going to do.
He called the hotel and whoever spoke to him told him that I should stay in my room as there were terrorists in the building. By the time he called me to tell me that, I had left my room. Thank God I didn't pick up his call. I don't know what would have happened if I had stayed in my room.
The corridor was thick with smoke, but thanks to a friend who advised me, I had wrapped a wet blanket around my face. I saw the glow of the fire exit sign and ran to it like a mad man. All I kept thinking of were my twin boys and my wife.
Somehow, by God's grace, I managed to run down six floors and didn't meet a single terrorist on the way.
When I came out of the building, it was surrounded by the police who kept shouting at me to put my hands up. I shouted back saying I was a hotel guest. They frisked me and took me to an ambulance where I was wrapped in a blanket and given a warm drink.
It was simply harrowing. When I came back to Singapore, I slept for two days straight. I am just thankful to God that I am alive and I am not going to take anything for granted."
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