Saturday, November 29, 2008

MUMBAI: a courageous witness

A courageous witness

Waking to the news of the Mumbai massacre, I was enthralled by the calm eyewitness account of British businessman Andreas Liveras as he described being holed up in the Taj Mahal hotel as bombs exploded around him.

As any news addict will tell you, it is one of the great excitements of the modern media age to be able to share in these minute-by-minute developments of unfolding world affairs.

But sometimes we can get so caught up in the drama that we forget the human toll. Shortly after Mr Liveras spoke to the BBC, he was killed by one of the terrorists.

Andreas Liveras

Cool under pressure: British businessman Andreas Liveras was supremely level-headed as he exited the devastated Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai