The scenes of hostages being rescued from the city’s historic and landmark Taj Hotel, a part of which was burnt on Wednesday night during the terror strike, had most Mumbaiites biting their nails. But, it was a daunting task which the Mumbai Fire Brigade set itself upon. The operation involved risks they will never forget: rescuing hostages and combating fire even as the militants kept hurling grenades in different intervals. Still, the firemen braved the odds and managed to rescue 380 hostages.

“The disaster management this time was different—it had much more at stake. There were terrorists attacking civilians who were even held hostages. The two hotel buildings: Taj Hotel and the Oberoi-Trident Hotel were set on fire,” said deputy chief fire officer P Rahangdale. “There was a dispute on what to do first. Finally, we decided that while combating the fire was important, the most critical task was to rescue hostages.”

The strategy for the fire brigade was clearly set up: rescue as many hostages as possible. Aerial ladders, snorkels and turn-table ladders were set up at the Taj Hotel. “We started screaming and communicating with the hostages to come at the main façade near the sea-side. Ladders were set accordingly and people were being pulled out,” Rahangdale said.

Another fireman added, that the firemen spread themselves from all the sides of the building and after spotting hostages gave those directions to reach the nearest outlet or window. “We even rescued people from the backside of the poolside on the second floor,” said a fireman.

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