NSW: Sydney man remains locked in Mumbai hotel room
28 Nov 2008 12:30 AM
SYDNEY, Nov 28 AAP - A Sydney man remains locked inside his Mumbai hotel room as terrorist attacks in the besieged city continue.
Garrick Harvison, an export manager for winery Yarraman Estate, is part of a 12-person NSW Department of State and Regional Development trade mission staying at the Oberoi Hotel.
For more than 18 hours, Mr Harvison has been lying low in his room, following armed Islamist militants targeting western foreigners at luxury hotels and other sites in the Indian financial capital since Wednesday.
As he spoke on ABC television's Lateline program on Thursday, he said he could hear gunshots.
Earlier, he said he had heard bomb blasts.
"It could mean anything. I'm hoping it means the Indian armed forces are trying to storm the building," he said.
"But being locked in the room makes it difficult to see anything, so I'm just sitting tight and waiting for further information."
Mr Harvison said he understood hostages were still being held at the Oberoi Hotel, and was conscious of making as little noise as possible.
"Everything is off. The curtains are drawn. (I'm) trying not to make any noise whatsoever to the point where I don't want to flush the toilet," he said.
When he earlier heard people attempting to kick doors in, Mr Harvison said all he could do "was pretty much lie on the floor in a ball, trying to keep as quiet as possible."
"I've got the door barricaded," he said.
He ignored a message on his landline phone in which the caller claimed to be hotel security.
"I think it was a hoax to get people to go down," he said.
With no way of knowing what Indian police were doing in the situation, Mr Harvison said he was relying on "gut instinct".
He had been in contact with Australian authorities, who knew his exact whereabouts.
"The Australian government has been brilliant. I've spoken to DFAT, the Australian Federal Police, NSW Police," he said.
"It's just that there is so much misinformation going around."
Until he could be rescued, Mr Harvison said he would pray that everything would be okay.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed a 49-year-old NSW man has been killed in the Mumbai terrorist attacks.
The federal government is in the process of trying to confirm the whereabouts of hundreds of Australians throughout India.
Over 2,000 Australians are currently travelling in India, with 300 believed to be in Mumbai.
A group calling itself the Deccan Mujahedeen has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
