OzGirl Posted March 14, 2019 Posted March 14, 2019 (edited) “I love you guys, I don’t think I’m going to make it.” That was the last text message photographer Daniela Federici remembers sending to her then husband and son from inside the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai. Around her as she wrote it, terrorists had started a deadly rampage. Ms Federici, 53, then hugged the rest of her 21-strong crew, who were with her in India making a TV documentary, before they all lay down on the ballroom floor to die together. The terrorists who attacked hadn’t yet found the dozens of guests and staff hiding in one of the hotel’s function rooms, but smoke and flames from fires they’d started were almost upon Ms Federici and her colleagues. Ms Federici, who is from Melbourne but now lives in New York, knew they couldn’t survive much longer. “We all lay down in a circle to die. We had all made peace,” she told nine.com.au. “I think being Australian there was a really pragmatic ‘just get over it’. “I started to shake, realising this is the end - not so much for me, but for my son, realising he’s not going to have a mother.” DEADLY THREE DAYS A total of 166 people were killed in the terror attacks, which began on November 26, 2008, and lasted for 60 hours. More than 30 staff and guests at the Taj Mahal Palace were among them. Another hotel, a hospital, train station, café, and Jewish centre were also targeted. Australians Brett Gilbert Taylor and Doug Markell were killed Federici was one of the lucky ones. And she’s among survivors who were interviewed by makers of Australian-produced movie, Hotel Mumbai, which stars British actor Dev Patel, best known for Lion, and Slumdog Millionaire. Director Anthony Maras tells the horrific story of that day through the eyes of the hotel’s staff and guests. HORROR HOTEL Federici’s ordeal started hours before she sent that text message - when her and her crew entered the hotel’s lavish lobby, just seconds before the terrorists. The team’s flight had been delayed, so they were two hours late for a meeting with the hotel's public relations boss. As they checked in, Ms Federici told staff she had to rush to the meeting, which was in the first floor bar. And while the receptionist tried to keep her back to fill out a form, she insisted on heading there immediately. Initially, Ms Federici thought the gun shots were fireworks. “We were halfway up the staircase, they massacred everyone around us,” she told nine.com.au. “We could hear people screaming and bodies being thrown over that staircase. “We were ten seconds out of there.” Ms Federici and her team made it into the bar, and barricaded the doors. Along with dozens of other guests and staff they hid behind furniture, desperately hoping the gunmen wouldn’t find them. Shots were fired through the glass, the bullets ricocheting around the room. They needed to find somewhere safer - and forced an old door behind the bar open. It led out into the function rooms. They stumbled into an Indian wedding, barricaded the doors, and told everybody to stay quiet. NO ESCAPE While Federici and her crew tried to smash the ballroom windows with ice buckets, they couldn’t break the glass. They were trapped - and nobody was coming to help. Indian police were unarmed and any officers who entered were slaughtered. The county’s National Security Guard (NSG) didn’t arrive to end the siege for hours. Ms Federici, her crew and the other guests and staff were still hiding, 26 hours later, as chaos and death surrounded them. “There were points where explosions were through the buildings, there were terrorists on the roof,” she said. And while the terrorists never found them, the fire was edging closer. That was when Ms Federici messaged her now ex-husband and son, who was just three, to say goodbye. MIRACLE MOMENT However, suddenly, an escape route emerged. “Maybe 90 seconds after we all lay down, they threw a grenade off the roof, it cracked a window,” she said. “We took the huge curtains, tied them together and got 65 people out.” Ms Federici, who has photographed A-listers including Kylie Minogue and Kim Kardashian and has worked for fashion giants such as Chanel to Jimmy Choo, said the experience changed her life. She now avoids travelling to risky locations such as the Middle East because of her son, who is now 14, and is keen to focus on environmental causes. POIGNANT RETURN When the hotel re-opened two years later, Ms Federici was asked to photograph the emotional occasion. Ten members of Pakistan-based Islamic terror organisation called Lashkar-e-Taiba were blamed for the attacks, but the masterminds were never caught. In November, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced a $US5m reward leading to their conviction. Hotel Mumbai is out at cinemas on Thursday. Contact reporter Sarah Swain: Sswain@nine.com.au © Nine Digital Pty Ltd 2019 https://www.9news.com.au/2019/03/12/15/12/australia-news-hotel-mumbai-movie-india-attacks-dev-patel Edited March 14, 2019 by OzGirl
speed_thrills Posted March 14, 2019 Posted March 14, 2019 Heart wrenching read as well as embarrassing reflection on our preparedness to counter terror. May all islamists rot in hell
vayuu1 Posted March 14, 2019 Posted March 14, 2019 48 minutes ago, speed_thrills said: Heart wrenching read as well as embarrassing reflection on our preparedness to counter terror. May all islamists rot in hell This was one of the first kind, like the one America faced during 9/11.
sandeep Posted March 14, 2019 Posted March 14, 2019 To this day, the government of Pakistan has refused to prosecute the murderers responsible for this horrific terrorist attack. Mr. Naya Pakistan Imran Khan says its "old news" when asked about it. I want the Indian government to apply punitive taxation on companies doing business with the terror state. Laaloo, Stradlater and mishra 3
Stradlater Posted March 14, 2019 Posted March 14, 2019 Consequences of being neighbors with rabid Jehadis. DHONI_FANN and Gollum 2
Gollum Posted March 14, 2019 Posted March 14, 2019 Timely reminder: Watch Mahesh Bhatt grin, his son was the one who hosted David Headley and helped him in his recce trip. Stradlater 1
Gollum Posted March 14, 2019 Posted March 14, 2019 “My son got bullet for a glass of water”, recalls 26/11 victim Quote Fifty-year-old Jamuna Waghela, who escaped death by a whisker on the fateful night of 26/11, recalls with horror how her young son was shot dead after serving a glass of water to gun-wielding Ajmal Kasab and wants the Pakistani terrorist hanged without delay. “Why has Kasab been kept alive? He should not be shown any mercy and hanged without delay,” says an angry Jamuna as she waits for justice to be done to her family five days from now when the anti-terror court is to pronounce its verdict in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case. “What has he (Kasab) gained from killing my son? Why they (terrorists) do all this? He killed my son for giving a glass of water?” asks a livid Jamuna fighting back tears. According to police, Jamuna’s son Thakur Wagela (32), a sweeper at government-run GT Hospital in south Mumbai, was shot dead by Kasab at his hut located in a lane near Cama Hospital. On November 26, 2008, Kasab and his accomplice Abu Ismail, along with eight others, came from Pakistan by sea and struck terror at various places including Taj Mahal Hotel, Nariman House, Oberoi hotel and CST terminus, killing 166 people and injuring many more. Kasab fatally injured Thakur before walking into Cama Hospital where he exchanged fire with security personnel. Later, outside the hospital he shot dead the then ATS chief Hemant Karkare, DIG Ashok Kamte and encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar. “At 10 pm, I was standing outside my house while my son and grandson were having dinner. Two persons (Kasab and Ismail) came dashing down the lane outside and one of them, later identified as Ajmal Kasab, stopped near my house when I asked him what he wanted,” recounted Jamuna. “His associate immediately opened fire at me but luckily the bullets did not hit me. I hid behind a hut as Kasab walked up to my son and asked for water,” said Jamuna, whose husband Budhai (60) too is a sweeper at GT hospital. “I could see my son offer Kasab a glass of water with trembling hands. The terrorist gulped it down and coolly shot at my son who slumped to the ground as I watched helplessly in horror,” she said clutching Thakur’s photo. She, however, thanks God for the little mercy shown to her. “Kasab did not see my grandson or he would have got killed too.” “The whole night I was not informed about my son’s death and told he was undergoing treatment. The next day, when I went to the hospital, I found him dead,” recalls Jamuna. “My son’s innocent face still haunts me. I get up every night thinking somebody has broken into my house. I feel scared to even sit outside my house late in the evening,” she says. Thakur has left behind his wife and three children. Though his wife has been given a sweeper’s job at GT Hospital and a flat in Sion in central Mumbai by the state government their welfare is a source of constant worry, Jamuna added. LINK Stradlater, DHONI_FANN and Cricketics 3
Gollum Posted March 14, 2019 Posted March 14, 2019 Based on UPA's disgraceful reaction during/post 26/11 how the * were they given a 2nd term the following year? Stradlater and DHONI_FANN 2
coffee_rules Posted March 14, 2019 Posted March 14, 2019 18 minutes ago, Gollum said: Based on UPA's disgraceful reaction during/post 26/11 how the * were they given a 2nd term the following year? All those responsible are in the maargadarshak mandal now.
speed_thrills Posted March 15, 2019 Posted March 15, 2019 14 hours ago, vayuu1 said: This was one of the first kind, like the one America faced during 9/11. False equivalence. Plane hitting buildings was unimaginable then, machine gun totting terrorist killing people not quite. It was sheer incompetence.
Deleted_User_1 Posted March 15, 2019 Posted March 15, 2019 Indian govt should have had the balls to raise hell then about Pakiland.
Clarke Posted March 15, 2019 Posted March 15, 2019 15 hours ago, Gollum said: Based on UPA's disgraceful reaction during/post 26/11 how the * were they given a 2nd term the following year? You think a farmer struggling to pay his loans in a far off village is affected by anything in Mumbai or other metros ? Terrorism means Jack in rural India. Caste & economics are the primary players.
The Dark Horse Posted March 15, 2019 Posted March 15, 2019 @OzGirl Australian gunman opens fire in Christchurch mosque terror attack
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