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Guests Return to Battered Mumbai Hotels

Reopening marks city's quick rebound

By Ambreen Ali,  Newser User

Posted Dec 22, 2008 1:49 AM CST
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(Newser) – Both five-star Mumbai hotels targeted in last month's deadly terror attacks reopened for business yesterday, marking the defiant rebound with glitz and prayer, reports the Los Angeles Times reports. Amid tight security, Bollywood stars and top government officials celebrated at the century-old Taj Mahal—whose flaming building became the iconic image of the three-day siege that claimed more than 170 lives. Nearby, the Oberoi's rebirth began with solemn prayer led by leaders from eight faiths.

This "will send a message that we can come alive again in record time," said the Taj Mahal's owner. Boarded-up windows were visible on closed portions of both structures—the parts where the most brutal fighting took place. It may take a year to completely repair the destruction wreaked by suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba militants.

Guests check-in at the Taj Mahal Palace and Towers after its re-opening in Mumbai yesterday.
Guests check-in at the Taj Mahal Palace and Towers after its re-opening in Mumbai yesterday.   (AP Photo/Gautam Singh)
Guests look at a Christmas tree kept in the lobby of the Taj Mahal Palace and Towers hotel in Mumbai yesterday.
Guests look at a Christmas tree kept in the lobby of the Taj Mahal Palace and Towers hotel in Mumbai yesterday.   (AP Photo/Gautam Singh)
Moreno Alphonso, who has been playing the piano at the Taj Mahal Palace and Towers for more than a decade, tickles the ivories in the lobby of the hotel after its reopening.
Moreno Alphonso, who has been playing the piano at the Taj Mahal Palace and Towers for more than a decade, tickles the ivories in the lobby of the hotel after its reopening.   (AP Photo/Gautam Singh)
Security personnel frisk journalists as they enter the Oberoi's Trident Hotel on the eve of the hotels' re-opening in Mumbai.
Security personnel frisk journalists as they enter the Oberoi's Trident Hotel on the eve of the hotels' re-opening in Mumbai.   (AP Photo/Gautam Singh)
Employees of the Oberoi's Trident Hotel check a customer's car at the hotel's reopening in Mumbai.
Employees of the Oberoi's Trident Hotel check a customer's car at the hotel's reopening in Mumbai.   (AP Photo / Rajanish Kakade)
Guests tour at the poolside area of the Taj Mahal Palace and Towers yesterday.
Guests tour at the poolside area of the Taj Mahal Palace and Towers yesterday.   (AP Photo/Gautam Singh)
A guest takes a picture of a plaque inscribed with the names of those who died in the attack on the Taj Mahal Palace and Towers hotel.
A guest takes a picture of a plaque inscribed with the names of those who died in the attack on the Taj Mahal Palace and Towers hotel.   (AP Photo/Gautam Singh)
A guest hugs an employee of the Taj Mahal and Towers Hotel at the hotel's reopening in Mumbai yesterday.
A guest hugs an employee of the Taj Mahal and Towers Hotel at the hotel's reopening in Mumbai yesterday.   (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)
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Hotel security will rival airports
Financial Times (UK)

Taj builds memorial in hotel
AFP

Guest of 16 years among returnees
Guardian (UK)

Taj art escapes gunmen's rage
Times of India (India)

World • Money

 
terrorism • India • Mumbai • rebuilding • gunmen • Mumbai attacks • Taj Mahal hotel • Oberoi hotel

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