I was in the Taj Mahal hotel then, eating a sandwich and sipping some Indian tea. I saw some armed people, but initially thought they were security personnel. Then, they opened fire into the café (of the hotel) I was in. I got down immediately, and saw other people getting shot at. Some fell like a brick, others fell in all sorts of interesting positions you only see in a war. I pretended to be dead, not moving at all. I was so scared that I would die. There was blood everywhere, and while pretending to be dead some of it had stained my clothes. It helped somewhat, as the terrorists entered the café and shot random people who were groaning in pain. They walked past me as I held my breath. Then, they left the café. I looked up, and when I saw they were gone, I made my way slowly to the windows. It took ten minutes to cover the 10 metres to the windows, but it felt like an hour. Then, I climbed out of the window, and ran to the streets, escaping death.
I feel that this attack on innocent civilians is evident of the brutality of the terrorists. Why did they have to do this? I feel scared that another attack like this would happen, and I may not be so lucky next time. The Indian authorities should thoroughly investigate this matter, and prevent such attacks from happening again.
Subnmission by PHEE HAY Bryan and Jeremy Yeo:
The attacks were highly frightening for me, as I did not expect anything like this to happen at all. I had just returned to the Taj Mahal Hotel, where I was staying, after a long and tiring day of work. Suddenly, a gunshot rang out and everyone started screaming incessantly. 2 foreigners armed with guns started firing at the people inside the hotel. Although the security guards stationed at the place drew their weapons to retaliate and protect the civilians, they were largely killed by the terrorists. Seeing the policemen get killed was a truly horrifying experience. The sight of the bloodied floor and the numerous corpses lying all around continues to stain my memory. Those who were still alive were all taken as hostages by the terrorists and crammed into a room. I saw approximately 300 people all sharing the same fate as me. Merely a few hours after the incident occurred, Indian security forces rescued nearly 200 hostages from the hotel, leaving only around 100 of us. It was at this moment that the terrorists started firing on selected hostages. I was deeply stunned when one of them aimed his gun at the head of one of my compatriots, Lo Hwei Yen. The shocked expression on her face remains a part of my memory to this date, along with the sound of her scream as the man pulled the trigger. It was only much later that the Indian forces killed the terrorists and rescued the rest of us. The incident was highly traumatic for me. Coming from Singapore, I have never contemplated the possibility of being a victim of terrorist attacks, as the country has always been peaceful and free from such threats. The event has caused me to understand the need to protect our own country, as we cannot rely on anyone else to help us when a situation like this happens.
Submission frm Kenny's group:
It was just BOOM and BANG! I was enjoying my life in the beautiful 5-star hotel but then as I was taking a small sip of my coffee, I was hit by a flying shard of glass which gave me a huge gash on my upper lip. Systematically, I heard loud explosions of the floors below mine and above mine. I was startled and did not know what is going on and what I was supposed to do. When I turned to my wife, I could tell that she was equally shocked and clueless of the current events.
My children were still at the swimming pool and I was feeling very worried for them. Just as I was panicking, my children appeared at the doorway and they were crying for me. I ran to them and tried to pacify them as my wife was packing our belongings. After we hurriedly stuffed a few important items such as our passports and visas in our bag, we rushed down to the exit.
Submission from Zheng Hao's group:
As we ran down the steps, we ended up in an inferno-like fire escape. The fire escape was full of blood and screaming. We were trapped in the fire escape, since both routes leading up and down are engulfed by fire. After what seemed like eternity, my family was rescued by a fire-fighter from a window and I was relieved to see my children and my wife safe and sound.
Thinking back of the incident, I feel that my family was really fortunate to be rescued by the fire-fighters. As we were being pulled out of the inferno, I could see others still struggling in the fire and I knew that not everybody could be rescued in the end. If not for the fact that I had to take care of my family, I would have sacrificed myself for the. I was lucky to be saved; however, this horrific incident would always stay etched in my mind.
Subnmission by PHEE HAY Bryan and Jeremy Yeo:
The attacks were highly frightening for me, as I did not expect anything like this to happen at all. I had just returned to the Taj Mahal Hotel, where I was staying, after a long and tiring day of work. Suddenly, a gunshot rang out and everyone started screaming incessantly. 2 foreigners armed with guns started firing at the people inside the hotel. Although the security guards stationed at the place drew their weapons to retaliate and protect the civilians, they were largely killed by the terrorists. Seeing the policemen get killed was a truly horrifying experience. The sight of the bloodied floor and the numerous corpses lying all around continues to stain my memory. Those who were still alive were all taken as hostages by the terrorists and crammed into a room. I saw approximately 300 people all sharing the same fate as me. Merely a few hours after the incident occurred, Indian security forces rescued nearly 200 hostages from the hotel, leaving only around 100 of us. It was at this moment that the terrorists started firing on selected hostages. I was deeply stunned when one of them aimed his gun at the head of one of my compatriots, Lo Hwei Yen. The shocked expression on her face remains a part of my memory to this date, along with the sound of her scream as the man pulled the trigger. It was only much later that the Indian forces killed the terrorists and rescued the rest of us. The incident was highly traumatic for me. Coming from Singapore, I have never contemplated the possibility of being a victim of terrorist attacks, as the country has always been peaceful and free from such threats. The event has caused me to understand the need to protect our own country, as we cannot rely on anyone else to help us when a situation like this happens.
Submission frm Kenny's group:
It was just BOOM and BANG! I was enjoying my life in the beautiful 5-star hotel but then as I was taking a small sip of my coffee, I was hit by a flying shard of glass which gave me a huge gash on my upper lip. Systematically, I heard loud explosions of the floors below mine and above mine. I was startled and did not know what is going on and what I was supposed to do. When I turned to my wife, I could tell that she was equally shocked and clueless of the current events.
My children were still at the swimming pool and I was feeling very worried for them. Just as I was panicking, my children appeared at the doorway and they were crying for me. I ran to them and tried to pacify them as my wife was packing our belongings. After we hurriedly stuffed a few important items such as our passports and visas in our bag, we rushed down to the exit.
Submission from Zheng Hao's group:
As we ran down the steps, we ended up in an inferno-like fire escape. The fire escape was full of blood and screaming. We were trapped in the fire escape, since both routes leading up and down are engulfed by fire. After what seemed like eternity, my family was rescued by a fire-fighter from a window and I was relieved to see my children and my wife safe and sound.
Thinking back of the incident, I feel that my family was really fortunate to be rescued by the fire-fighters. As we were being pulled out of the inferno, I could see others still struggling in the fire and I knew that not everybody could be rescued in the end. If not for the fact that I had to take care of my family, I would have sacrificed myself for the. I was lucky to be saved; however, this horrific incident would always stay etched in my mind.
At first, I was just lounging around the ground floors for no particular reason. Suddenly, there were explosions, just ‘boom’ and there was fire and I was just blown to the side. Very quickly, the smell of burning wood and flesh filled the air and some people with guns and other weapons started shooting in the air and threatening us. Afraid, I quietly followed the rest of the crowd that followed the men. At some point, fire singed my sleeve, which I only noticed because the fire was causing me pain. There were corpses on the floor, bleeding even though they were already dead. They were filled with bullet holes. I saw that some people had been caught in the explosion. Some had their limbs blown off, and it revealed sharp broken bone. They were just… left there. They were left there bleeding to death. The people with weapons… those monsters… they did not let us help the injured. Someone tried to anyway, but they caught him and cut a hole in his abdomen with a kitchen knife. He was screaming… screaming, shrieking wildly. He was struggling, and eventually he either blacked out or stopped moving. We did not dare go help him. No one did, because the next thing those monsters did was dig into the hole made by the knife and pulled his intestines right out… Many people puked right there and then, me included, and the body was thrown back at us.
