How a round of meeting with friends saved Adani's life: India's richest man recalls 26/11 Mumbai attack

New Delhi, Jan 08: Billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani has opened up on his narrow escape during the 26/11 Mumbai attacks in 2008.

Adani, on 'Aap Ki Adalat' show, has spoken about the horrific incident where a round of meeting with friends possibly saved his life in the Taj attack that shocked the entire world.

According to him, he had a business meeting with his Dubai-based friends at the Hotel Taj after which he heard about the hotel coming under attack from the terrorist and claimed that he had seen them. "I had completed a meeting with my friends who came here (Mumbai) from Dubai. After paying the bills, I was about to exit the hotel, when some of my friends asked me to hold another round of meetings. I chose to stay in the restaurant where we had completed the dinner," a report quoted him as saying.

"Later, we started the meeting with a cup of coffee. Unexpectedly, I came to know that the hotel was under attack by the terrorists. After a few minutes, the hotel staff took me to the kitchen using a back door. These kinds of dedication are very rare. Really, the staff member of the Taj Hotel is very dedicated," he showered good words about the Taj staff.

The businessman was saved by the commandos at around 7:30 am (November 27, 2008) with full security. "I was thinking... If I had not sat for the meeting.... I might be roaming on the balcony, where the terrorists attacked with lethal weapons," he recalled. This might result deadly for me, he said.

#AdaniKaAsliInterview| जानिए मुंबई 26/11 ताज होटल पर हुए हमले में कैसे बचे थे एशिया के सबसे अमीर आदमी गौतम अडाणी ?#AapKiAdalat #AdaniInAapKiAdalat #AapKiAdalatNewEpisodes @gautam_adani @AdaniOnline @RajatSharmaLive pic.twitter.com/01LbPvW8eK

— India TV (@indiatvnews) January 7, 2023

The 2008 Mumbai attacks were a series of terrorist attacks that took place in November 2008, when 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamist terrorist organisation from Pakistan, carried out 12 coordinated shooting and bombing attacks lasting four days across Mumbai. The attacks, which drew widespread global condemnation, began on Wednesday 26 November and lasted until Saturday 29 November 2008. A total of 175 people died, including nine attackers, and more than 300 were wounded, as per Wikipedia.

Eight of the attacks occurred in South Mumbai: at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the Oberoi Trident, the Taj Palace & Tower, the Leopold Cafe, the Cama Hospital, the Nariman House, the Metro Cinema, and in a lane behind the Times of India building and St. Xavier's College. There was also an explosion at Mazagaon, in Mumbai's port area, and in a taxi at Vile Parle.