SONYA FATAH

November 28, 2008
SONYA FATAH
THE TORONTO STAR

MUMBAI–Mumbai is usually India’s busiest city, legendary for its bustling commercial culture and its frustrating traffic jams.

But today, more than 24 hours after the co-ordinated attacks on the city’s elite southern suburbs, Mumbai was still paralyzed.

Air traffic to the city was significantly down, with early-morning flights from New Delhi carrying less than one-third their capacity.

The domestic airport, normally jam-packed with business people and tourists, was like a ghost town, quiet and subdued, matching the mood of the city.

“Things are better today than they were yesterday,” said Vinod Sharma, 42, a taxi driver who has been driving in the city for the last year.

“Yesterday no one was stepping out of their homes. Today at least there are cars on the street.”

Sharma was working Wednesday night when he witnessed one of the first attacks – a bomb explosion inside a fellow cab driver’s vehicle.

“I was standing barely 200 metres away,” he said. “The light had just turned green and the taxi shot ahead carrying this passenger.

“Who knows if he was the terrorist or not but all of a sudden there was a massive explosion and there was absolute carnage.

“I’m still shaking at the memory.”

Sharma said the roof of the taxi was blown so far away it couldn’t be found.

“There were limbs and blood and body parts everywhere. And one poor guy on a motorbike right there lost his life, too.”

Although the streets of Mumbai were quieter than usual, there were signs of a return to life in this city of 14 million. While some stores and offices remained closed in the area close to the Oberoi Hotel, one of the terrorists’ targets, a few public buses made their rounds past the area cordoned off by police.

Journalists and onlookers crowded around the barricades around the hotel.

There were reports that up to 30 hostages had been rescued today and were being taken away in a bus to safety but it was difficult to ascertain from the distance because riot police trucks had blocked off the street. Behind the hotel, a white tourist bus was parked outside and a steady stream of hostages emerging from the hotel began boarding it. Most appeared to be foreigners.

Beyond the public barricade, a bevy of fire trucks were parked still, and there was no sound of activity.

Earlier, police had told guests in the hotel to stay in their rooms.

“The situation is almost over but they are firing shots inside so we have to wait it out,” said police officer Tanaji Ghardze.

Popularity: 7% [?]

This entry was posted on Friday, November 28th, 2008 at 4:11 pm and is filed under India, The Toronto Star. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.