'Everyone's taking cover now': reporting the Mumbai terror attacks
After news of the Mumbai terror outrage broke, how did news agencies cover the rapidly unfolding events?
- guardian.co.uk, Friday November 28 2008 17.44 GMT
- Article history
"Sorry, everyone's taking cover now ... a certain amount of panic among the mediapress corp". This live report today from Sky News correspondent AlexCrawford outside Mumbai's Taj Mahal Palace hotel, during which gunfiresent journalists diving for cover, dramatically highlighted the dangersfacing the media covering the terrorist attacks in India's financial capital.
Crawfordreported that two people, who she thought were journalists, appeared tohave been injured among the media gathered outside the Taj during theshooting incident.
The Sky News New Delhi correspondent and hercameraman can then be heard discussing withdrawing to a safer filminglocation, before the live report comes to an understandably abrupt end.Crawford later resumed her live report - lying on the ground.
Crawfordwas back in London attending an industry awards ceremony when theMumbai terrorist attacks began late on Wednesday, GMT, and became oneof dozens of UK journalists who rushed to the Indian city to cover thechaotic and bloody fighting, which has so far claimed nearly 150 lives.
TheSky News foreign editor, Adrian Wells, admitted Crawford's travelarrangements had been "slightly awkward", with the correspondentarriving in Mumbai yesterday lunchtime. Before that Sky News relied onfreelance Indian journalists and eye-witness reports from Britishtourists and business travellers.
Reuters
The Reuterssouth asia editor, Phil Smith, spoke to MediaGuardian.co.uk today fromthe back of the Taj hotel, where he was waiting for the authorities tostart bringing out the bodies of those killed in the terrorist attacks,believed to be the work of Islamist militants.
Smith, who is based in Mumbai, said he had been on the story since Wednesday evening when the crisis began.
"Iwas just going to bed when I heard banging outside. I thought it was afire cracker but then I heard another one and it sounded quite loud soI walked outside and around the building and found the wreckage of ascooter blown on its side and a shop front, with quite a large crowdgathering around," he added.
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