A Lake Forest family are among the tourists rescued fromthe Mumbai, India, hotel overrun by terrorists.
Deepak Dalia, a Gurnee radiologist and his wife, Himani, a pathologist at Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan, were eating dinner Wednesday night at the Oberoi Hotel when gunmen opened fire near the hotel lobby and began taking hostages, their daughter said
Aneri Dalia said her parents were dining with her sister, Anokhi Bock, her brother-in-law Derek Bock and 15-month niece Bela Bock, when terrified restaurant patrons heard the commotion.
Staff at the Oberoi quickly herded everyone together and pushed them through the restaurant's kitchen and into a banquet hall, where they locked doors, turned of lights and waited to be rescued, Aneri said. Hours later, Indian commandos entered the banquet room and escorted the family to a nearby business office, while other guests were taken to a movie theater.
"My mom was afraid that the (theater) might be a target for a bomb," Aneri said.
Aneri said she had not heard about the attacks until another sister phoned her to say she had just spoken with the family. Terrified, it would be another hour before Aneri would hear from her parents and sister.
"(My mom) was calming me down. I was just a wreck. She was the calm one," Aneri said. "My parents have always been very positive people. I think that helps in situations like this."
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