Hyderabad: Four top officers of Andhra Bank here had a providential escape from the deadliest terror strikes in Mumbai as they locked themselves in the rooms of Trident hotel for almost 18 hours, till the NSG commandos came into rescue them.

Five general managers (GMs) and two directors of the bank, were in Mumbai to attend the audit committee meeting scheduled for November 27 at the hotel.

"We checked in at 9.30 p.m at Trident hotel on Wednesday and were provided with rooms on different floors," Andhra Bank's GM (Inspection and Audit) S Prabhakar Reddy, who survived the terror attacks, said here on Saturday.

"Three of our GMs went out for dinner while myself and GM Suryanarayana and directors V S Ramakrishnan and Madhusudan Prasad stayed back at Trident, just before the terror struck the region," Reddy said.

"I heard two explosions and gun shots late on Wednesday night outside our hotel, but didn't take the matter seriously. But, soon I got a call from my colleague saying the financial capital was under attack from terrorists and they were also firing inside our hotel," Reddy said.

"I locked myself inside the room on the 24th floor and switched on the television to know the developments. I did not sleep the whole night. On Thursday early morning, I was told rescue operations had begun to evacuate us," Reddy added.

"We were in touch with our colleagues through land phones and I also called up my family members during these tense moments," he said.

"We were told that terrorists were on the 19th floor that was when we got more tense. We had no other alternative but to stay put in our rooms," the banker said.

"We were just hearing gun fires and explosions around. It was only at 3 pm, I received a call from Andhra Banks Mumbai zonal office security officer Captain Bhaskar stating that final efforts were on to rescue us," Reddy recalled.

"At around 17 hours, NSG commandos along with captain Bhaskar rescued us from the different rooms of the hotel and we moved out from the fire exit of the hotel," Reddy said adding it was a big relief from being in the jaws of death. We reached Hyderabad on Thursday night," Reddy said.

Reddy thanked Bhaskar and the NSG commandos for their efforts in saving their lives.

Source : DNA