GOANS' ENCOUNTER WITH TERROR Diwar chef killed in Taj attack HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, NOV 27 "Kevin… Kevin… Daddy… Daddy".
These were the last few words of 23-year-old Boris do Rego, resident of Premier wado, Diwar to his elder brother and father Urbano before succumbing to the bullets of the terrorists in Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai, in the wee hours of Thursday. Until 4 am, Boris was safe along with around 300 staff members of Taj, in the basement of the heritage hotel building – where they were asked to assemble by the in-house security. As soon as the Rego family heard about the terrorist attack on Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai on Wednesday night, panic-stricken Kevin and his father Urbano – who is a corporate chef for the Taj group in Goa – telephoned Boris, immediately. This was between 10.45 and 11 pm. "I am safe Daddy", was what he told his father bringing much relief to his family members. "Narrating what he was witness to and his brief encounter with the masked terrorists, Boris told us that when he was on-duty at Shamiana (restaurant), a group of terrorists entered the restaurant by kicking the door open," a distraught Kevin told Herald. Chaos reigned in the restaurant as the customers ran helter-skelter. Boris, who was in the 'open kitchen', ran to safety when the terrorists opened fire injuring some before leaving the place. The in-house security who rushed into the restaurant advised all the staff to assemble in the basement of the building. By then, the other staff members of the hotel were also asked to gather in the basement. Since then, we telephoned Boris or he phoned us almost every 20-25 minutes, Kevin said adding: "We were in constant touch." By then, the staff had swelled to nearly 300 in the basement, Boris had told his brother. Boris was very confident that he and his colleagues were out of the terrorists range. He even assured his father, quite confidently, that they shouldn't worry about him. Nonetheless, Kevin, his father and mother were awake throughout the night while his mother kept praying for the safety of her son. Perhaps this was the situation for him till just little before 4 am. Around 20 minutes later, when Kevin phoned again, he was left heartbroken. The voice, on the other side, was very feeble and cold. Anticipating that something had gone wrong, Kevin gave the phone to his father. "Kevin… Kevin… Daddy… Daddy", were the only words his father – shell-shocked by the turn of events at the Taj hotel, could hear. Boris could hardly utter a word and a pale of gloom descended the house. It was quite clear that Boris, a young energetic Sous-Chef – who apparently was there to make it big in the profession at the Taj – had fallen victim to the terrorists' attack. It is not known how it happened all of a sudden. Sources indicated that when Boris just moved from the basement to the kitchen to fetch something, he was attacked. Urbano, with hope against hope, tried calling senior executive members of the Taj, who he knew well over the years. However, not much information could come in and it was only at around 2.30 pm or so on Thursday that a top executive chef telephoned Urbano to give the sad news. Later, it was confirmed by the Human Resource Department of the hotel. In the evening, the house saw large number of friends of Boris and co-villagers visiting the Regos. His friends were in tears, as they will miss forever a pleasant personality, who was ready to render a helping hand wherever needed. Simon Gomes recalled Boris' last visit to Goa for the village feast of Lord the Redeemer, held on November 16. Liston Pinto, who is down from Kuwait could not believe he could meet such a death. Nelson Crasto said, "Boris was very jolly-villager and down to earth guy. Will miss him a lot." The terror attack happened miles away but it snatched away the life of a young Goan, who couldn't see his dream come through. Elder brother Kevin was in tears when he said Boris had a dream to walk into his father shoes to be just like him – a successful chef. (With inputs from Rosario Rebello) * * * Another survives to tell horror tale KANZIL RODRIGUES OLD GOA, NOV 27 While the terrorist attacks in Mumbai left at least 125 dead and over 300 injured, two Goans survived the gruesome drama to recount their tales of horror. When 20-year-old Lincon Rodrigues, a hotel management student from Calvaddo-Corlim was doing his evening shift at the Trident (Oberoi) hotel on Wednesday, little did he realise his hotel would suddenly turn into a battle zone later that night and that he would have a close brush with death. Lincon, who was training at the Oberoi hotel since the last one-and-half year, was at the hotel when terrorists barged into the premises and began firing indiscriminately at guests. Narrating the sequence of events to Herald from Mumbai, Lincon said the terrorist strike had first taken place at Colaba, before terrorists stormed into the Oberoi hotel at about 10 pm. "The incident took place while I was doing my evening (7 pm to 4 am) shift at the Vetro Italian restaurant. After firing inside the hotel lobby, some terrorists tried to enter our restaurant. But before they could enter the restaurant, 12 other workers and I along with the captain and the manager managed to lock the restaurant door," recalled Lincon. "We then tried our level best to inform the guests inside the restaurant to run away as terrorists had attacked the hotel. At the same time, we also managed to escape from the hotel through the exit door." "While I was inside the hotel, I could hear the sound of gunfire. A friend working in another restaurant at the hotel was killed, while some of my colleagues were injured," Lincon said. Lincon informed that he along with a friend managed to escape from the hotel by about 11.30 pm. "Some staffers and I gathered at the backyard of the Inox cinema, which is not far from the hotel, where about 500 other people had also taken shelter. We could hear the sound of gun firing, explosion of grenades and also heard terrorists breaking glasses at the hotel," said Lincon. While at the backyard of Inox cinema, Lincon managed to contact his parents in Corlim through his mobile phone and reassured them that he was safe. "I had to wait till 6 am to return to the Corlim club, where I am presently staying. All through the night, we were close to the hotel and could see and hear gun firing taking place," recalled Lincon. To a query on whether there was any police to provide them security while at the Inox complex, Lincon replied in the negative. "There was no police to take care of us and we were panic-stricken with gun shots all over the vicinity," he said. "At the time of the incident, I was very frightened and did not know what would happen to me. It was the scariest day of my life and I saw the horrific drama unfold before my very eyes." His family — Zacharias (father), Gloria (mother) and Michelle (sister) – was overjoyed to learn that Lincon had survived the terrorist strikes at the Oberoi hotel and was safe in Mumbai. "We thank God for keeping Lincon safe from the terrorist attacks. We have been regularly contacting him and we have been assured that he is safe," said a visibly relieved Zacharias. Family members have now requested Lincon to return home as soon as possible. In another incident, the sound of gunfire near Metro Cinema stunned John Fernandes of Volvaddo-Corlim, who was at nearby Corlim Club in Dhobitalao-Mumbai. Speaking to Herald from Mumbai, John (24), a resident at the Corlim Club, said he was at club when he heard gunfire near the Metro Cinema. "A friend of mine and I were horrified by the sound of gunfire and we left the club to see what had happened. We then learnt that terrorists had opened fire near Metro Cinema, in which 3-4 people were killed and were lying down. I believe one of them was the ATS Chief Hemant Karkare," said John. "I could also see people running from one place to another. It was a shocking sight and I felt death was close at hand." John later received a number of calls from family members and friends from Corlim and they were relieved to know that he was safe.
