EXCLUSIVE ‘We all lay down in a circle to die.' Australian photographer recounts deadly hotel terror attack as Hotel Mumbai movie is released
“I love you guys, I don’t think I’m going to make it.”
That was the last text message photographer Daniela Federici remembers sending to her then husband and son from inside the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai.
Around her as she wrote it, terrorists had started a deadly rampage.
Ms Federici, 53, then hugged the rest of her 21-strong crew, who were with her in India making a TV documentary, before they all lay down on the ballroom floor to die together.
Daniela Federici sent a final text to her family from inside the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai, India, as terrorists struck. Supplied
The Taj Mahal Palace on fire amid the attacks in 2008. AAP
The terrorists who attacked hadn’t yet found the dozens of guests and staff hiding in one of the hotel’s function rooms, but smoke and flames from fires they’d started were almost upon Ms Federici and her colleagues.
Ms Federici, who is from Melbourne but now lives in New York, knew they couldn’t survive much longer.
“We all lay down in a circle to die. We had all made peace,” she told nine.com.au.
“I think being Australian there was a really pragmatic ‘just get over it’.
“I started to shake, realising this is the end - not so much for me, but for my son, realising he’s not going to have a mother.”
Hundreds of hotel guests were trapped inside the hotel during the Mumbai attacks. AAP
DEADLY THREE DAYS
A total of 166 people were killed in the terror attacks, which began on November 26, 2008, and lasted for 60 hours.
More than 30 staff and guests at the Taj Mahal Palace were among them.
Another hotel, a hospital, train station, café, and Jewish centre were also targeted.
Mohammed Ajmal Kasab at Chatrapathi Sivaji Terminal railway station in Mumbai - the only terrorist convicted after the attacks- the others perished over the three days. He was later executed. AAP
Australians Brett Gilbert Taylor and Doug Markell were killed
Federici was one of the lucky ones.
And she’s among survivors who were interviewed by makers of Australian-produced movie, Hotel Mumbai, which stars British actor Dev Patel, best known for Lion, and Slumdog Millionaire.
Director Anthony Maras tells the horrific story of that day through the eyes of the hotel’s staff and guests.
Dev Patel in new film, Hotel Mumbai, about the Indian terror attacks in 2008. Supplied
HORROR HOTEL
Federici’s ordeal started hours before she sent that text message - when her and her crew entered the hotel’s lavish lobby, just seconds before the terrorists.
The team’s flight had been delayed, so they were two hours late for a meeting with the hotel's public relations boss.
As they checked in, Ms Federici told staff she had to rush to the meeting, which was in the first floor bar.
And while the receptionist tried to keep her back to fill out a form, she insisted on heading there immediately.
Daniela Federici's son was just three when his mother was caught up in the Mumbai attacks. Supplied
Initially, Ms Federici thought the gun shots were fireworks.
“We were halfway up the staircase, they massacred everyone around us,” she told nine.com.au.
“We could hear people screaming and bodies being thrown over that staircase.
“We were ten seconds out of there.”
Ms Federici and her team made it into the bar, and barricaded the doors.
Along with dozens of other guests and staff they hid behind furniture, desperately hoping the gunmen wouldn’t find them.
Photographer Daniela Federici, who also travels the world making films and TV, recalled the terrifying experience in Mumbai. Supplied
Shots were fired through the glass, the bullets ricocheting around the room.
They needed to find somewhere safer - and forced an old door behind the bar open.
It led out into the function rooms.
They stumbled into an Indian wedding, barricaded the doors, and told everybody to stay quiet.
NO ESCAPE
While Federici and her crew tried to smash the ballroom windows with ice buckets, they couldn’t break the glass.
They were trapped - and nobody was coming to help.
Indian police were unarmed and any officers who entered were slaughtered.
The county’s National Security Guard (NSG) didn’t arrive to end the siege for hours.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge lay wreaths to commemorate the attacks at the hotel. AAP
Ms Federici, her crew and the other guests and staff were still hiding, 26 hours later, as chaos and death surrounded them.
“There were points where explosions were through the buildings, there were terrorists on the roof,” she said.
And while the terrorists never found them, the fire was edging closer.
That was when Ms Federici messaged her now ex-husband and son, who was just three, to say goodbye.
More than 30 people were killed at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel- now the subject of a movie, above. Supplied
MIRACLE MOMENT
However, suddenly, an escape route emerged.
“Maybe 90 seconds after we all lay down, they threw a grenade off the roof, it cracked a window,” she said.
“We took the huge curtains, tied them together and got 65 people out.”
Daniela Federici, centre in black, escaping from the function room at at Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai after the terror attacks. Getty
Ms Federici, who has photographed A-listers including Kylie Minogue and Kim Kardashian and has worked for fashion giants such as Chanel to Jimmy Choo, said the experience changed her life.
She now avoids travelling to risky locations such as the Middle East because of her son, who is now 14, and is keen to focus on environmental causes.
POIGNANT RETURN
When the hotel re-opened two years later, Ms Federici was asked to photograph the emotional occasion.
Ten members of Pakistan-based Islamic terror organisation called Lashkar-e-Taiba were blamed for the attacks, but the masterminds were never caught.
The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel reopens, two years after the terrorist attacks took over the city. The story feature in new movie Hotel Mumbai. Getty
In November, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced a $US5m reward leading to their conviction.
Hotel Mumbai is out at cinemas on Thursday.
Contact reporter Sarah Swain: Sswain@nine.com.au
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