British 'curry King' Tycoon Noon Describes Terror Inside Mumbai Hotel

Sir Gulam Noon, Britain's best known Asian businessman, today described the dramatic moment he barricaded himself inside his room at the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai, as two terrorists wielding AK-47s rampaged through the corridor outside.

Noon escaped death following an eight-hour siege when fire crews pulled him from a smoke-filled room on the third floor. The food tycoon, 72, was eating dinner with six business associates in his suite when the attack began. "I heard gunfire," he said. "Then obviously we realized something was wrong. They were firing indiscriminately, obviously."

Through his window, he saw police, army and commando units rushing to the hotel, and bodies being taken out. Noon locked the room and barricaded himself in with furniture.

"At about midnight or so there was a huge explosion, so much so that the entire building sort of moved. And that was frightening. I said, 'Oh my God, this is heavy stuff.' Then of course the grenades and all those small bombs were taking place - including gunfire."

Moments later, Noon looked through the keyhole in the door of his suite. "Two terrorists were actually indiscriminately firing in the corridor, which you could see. They'd covered their faces. We were worried that they might knock [on] our door. We could hear that they were kicking a door some distance away. It was a frightening moment."

Noon, known as the "Curry King" for his Indian ready meal business, was in constant contact with friends and family at home, who relayed all the news they had from TV reports - including the fact that terrorists were scouring the hotel for British and American passport holders.

He said his most dangerous moment came hours later, as smoke raging on a fire on the fifth floor began filtering into his room. The building's air conditioning system was off and he was unable to open any windows.

"The smoke started coming down. We could see the smoke in the entire corridor, again through the keyhole. We dared not open the door... I could feel that my throat was hurting, that means I was inhaling the smoke."

Throughout the ordeal, the Taj hotel's reception kept guests abreast of developments, advising them to stay in their rooms. Told by telephone that commandos were planning to save him, Noon said: "Listen, you've got to save us. We can't inhale this smoke."

Eventually members of the fire service spotted him waving from his window. The window was pushed out, and he was lowered from a building on a crane.