Finnish man escapes Mumbai hotel during terror attack

“I thought that if we don’t get shot, the smoke would kill us”

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A Finnish man managed to escape through the emergency exit of the Oberoi Hotel in the Indian city of Mumbai just as a terrorist attack against the hotel was beginning, and when the hotel was already filling with smoke.
      The 46-year-old businessman, who asked that his name not be published, said that he had returned to the hotel with a colleague from another Nordic country, and was in his room when he heard the sound of shooting from the lobby.
      “I looked from the balcony and saw people running from the side of the tower”, he said.
     
The five-star Oberoi is especially popular among business travellers. The hotel has two sides, a new tower, and an older, lower part. The Finnish businessman’s colleague said that he had seen two men with assault rifles. As the shooting increased, the man went back into his room and locked himself in. He heard numerous shots being fired.
      “I called my colleague, and we decided to stay in the rooms. I put a chair in front of the door and took a fruit knife in my hand”, he said, in a state of shock.
      The man said that he heard several shots fired. After a couple of louder explosions, he lookd through the peephole in the door and saw smoke. “I tried to stop the smoke from coming in the room by sealing the bottom edge of the door with a wet towel, but it didn’t help.”
      After discussing the matter with his colleague, they decided to flee the hotel together. “I thought that if we aren’t shot, we’ll die from the smoke.”
      The man took his passport, cash, and a flashlight that he keeps with him while travelling, as well as the wet towel. At the emergency exit, there was only a handful of people, in addition to himself and his colleague. “That was surprising, I thought that there would be many more.”
     
The man lived on the 15th floor of the hotel. However, the numbering of the floors is not quite even, and he suspects that there may have been between six and eight stories from his room to ground level. There was little smoke in the emergency exit.
      When they got out of the hotel, the street was empty. The men waited on the street. A few hotel guests and personnel were there, in addition to a few local residents.
      “We tried to shout that people will by dying there soon, and that someone should call the fire brigade and an ambulance.”
     
The Man’s Indian business partners heard about the events on the news, and let the Finnish man and his colleague spend the night in a nearby office, where they slept on the floor.
      “Our situation is certainly better than that of many others, as we have local people whom we know.” The business acquaintances are trying to arrange a return to Finland earlier than previously planned.
      He was originally to have returned to Finland during the weekend.
      “My phone is full of text messages from people asking if I am all right. I sent a message immediately to my wife when I got out of the hotel, saying that I am.”
     
Another Finnish man was slightly injured in shooting that took place at the Chhatrapati Shivaji railway station in Mumbai on Thursday.
      Finnish Ambassador Asko Numminen said from Delhi that the Finn was hit in the arm when terrorists started shooting into a crowd at the station.
     
Finnair is continuing to fly from Helsinki to Mumbai.
      “We have no basis for cancelling flights as long as the airport is open”, says Taneli Hassinen, head of communications at Finnair.
      Finnair flies to Mumbai four times a week.
      Mumbai is not a major tourist destination for Finns. Most Finnish tourists go to Goa.
      Helsinki resident Emma Saloranta and her American boyfriend flew from Helsinki to Goa via Delhi and Mumbai. Saloranta says that at Mumbai Airport they were hustled to the plane to Goa via a special route.
      “Officials said that it is better that people who sound like Americans, as we do, not spend too much time at the airport”, said Saloranta, who was reached by phone in Goa.


Links:
  Finnair info: Situation at Bangkok International Airport and in Mumbai

Helsingin Sanomat