Seventy-Seven Survivors Of Mumbai Attacks Arrive In Paris
Among the passengers was a French woman with a broken arm, who was taken to hospital, while an Italian man suffered from a bout of phlebitis and was treated at the airport, officials said.
Four other passengers were in a state of shock, they added.
Phillippe Meyer, who had been on a business trip to Mumbai, said he was stuck in one of the hotels targeted by militants, who launched their coordinated attacks on Thursday.
"We found ourselves shut away in our rooms for a very long time, about 40 hours. The information was very confusing," said Meyer, 53.
A 29-year-old French woman who had been on vacation in India said she was relieved to be back home.
"I'm fine, but some people were not as lucky. At the time, we didn't realize it," said Fazia, who stayed at the Ritz hotel, near the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel that was a key target of the attacks that claimed 195 lives.
"We left (our hotel) to join some friends at a club, and people told us there was gunfire. So we quickly turned around and stayed in our hotel."
Other passengers on the plane chartered by France were too upset to speak to journalists. "It is too hard. Please, leave me alone," said one woman in tears.
The nationalities of the passengers on the Airbus A310 included 29 French nationals, 19 Italians, 17 Spaniards, five Germans, and one each from Poland, Kazakhstan, Greece, Switzerland, Algeria, Congo and the Netherlands.
Four of them were members of the European Parliament.
The attacks by Islamic militants on two Mumbai hotels and a popular cafe, as well as a Jewish center, ended Saturday after two days.
India's security chief said commandos had rescued a total of 610 people from the locations under attack.
Twenty-six foreigners were among those who died.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 29, 2008 12:28 ET (17:28 GMT)
Publié le 29 novembre 2008 Copyright © 2008 Dowjones
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