The two hotels being interconnected, consist of 800 rooms between them. Being much larger than Taj Mahal hotel in terms of spatial capacity, the rescue operation at the Oberoi-Trident was extremely slow. The Oberoi-Trident is the other icon of luxury and opulence in Mumbai that came under the deadly saws of the 26/11 attacks.
The wards were full to their capacity as patients were lying in sheets soaked in blood and tears. At St, George hospital and JJ hospital body bags kept coming in. While the NSG and medical teams sanitised the building after complete evacuation, the fire department was still dousing the last fires in the building. In the succeeding hours, evacuations took place in batches.ġ0:30 am: Fresh round of gun battle reported from within the building.Ĥ: 30 pm: The terrorists set fire to a room on the fourth floor of the building.ġ4: 53- 15:59 pm: Ten grenade explosions reported to have taken place within the premises.ħ: 30 pm: Another round of explosions and firing took place.Ĩ:00 am: The Indian commandos announced that the Taj had been cleared of all the terrorists. The government gave orders to storm the building. He was shot dead.Ħ:30 am: A team of 200 commandos reached Mumbai from New Delhi and took charge of the rescue operations in Taj and Oberoi. Gautam Singh, a tandoor chef at Taj, was one of them. The second group was spotted by the terrorists while they were making an exit. Two groups were formed by marine commandos. Many of the guests inside the hotel were huddled up by the staff into small rooms by this time.ġ:00 am: The central dome of the hotel was bombed and there was a massive fire in the building.ģ:00 am: The army and firemen arrived at the location.Ĥ:00 am: The first round of evacuation took place. The fact that the terrorists were aware of that the La-Pat door, which is generally closed to public, was open on that particular day for a few corporate meetings and a wedding, was evidence of the intricacy in planning that went behind the attacks.īy the poolside, four foreigners were the first to have been shot down dead by the terrorists along with security guard Ravindra Kumar and his Labrador Retriever.ġ2:00 am: By midnight Mumbai Police surrounded the Taj. Armed with AK 47s, ammunition and grenades, they made their way to the lobby area, firing on anyone and everyone who caught their sight.ĩ:43 pm: The other two terrorists, Shoib and Umer, entered through the La-Pat door of the Palace and started shooting down guests in the poolside area.
Express photo by Ganesh Shirsekar.ĩ:38 pm: Two among the four terrorists, Abdul Rehman Bada and Abu Ali reached the main entrance of the Tower section, having planted a crude RDX bomb in front of the police post nearby. Heavy smoke from Taj Mahal Hotel set on fire by terrorists.