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£300m Briton shot dead in Mumbai siege
Amar Singh and Richard Orange27 Nov 2008
A British shipping tycoon died after being gunned down by terrorists in a Mumbai hotel today.
Andreas Liveras, a 73 year-old entrepreneur spoke of his terror on his mobile phone, as he and other guests were locked in the basement of the five-star Taj hotel while gunmen ran amock and bombs exploded.
Mumbai's St George's Hospital told the Standard that Mr Liveras had suffered several gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead on arrival.
A hospital administrator said: "We can confirm a British national Andreas Liveras, aged in his 70s, was brought in by ambulance. He had been shot multiple times, causing heavy bleeding and fatal injuries to his major organs. Doctors pronounced him dead on arrival."
"The matter has been referred to the police and the British High Commission."
Before his death, the self-made millionaire, who emigrated to Britain from Cyprus in 1963 told the BBC that he was with over a '1000 people living on their nerves."
He said he visited the Taj Palace Hotel last night for a curry after hearing that the hotel served the best food in Mumbai.
"I think it's got the best restaurant here. But as soon as we sat at the table we heard the machine gun fire outside in the corridor."
"We hid ourselves under the table and then they switched all the lights off. But the machine guns kept going, and they took us into the kitchen, and from there into a basement, before we came up into a salon where we are now.
"There must be more than 1,000 people here. There are residents and tourists and locals. We are not hiding, we are locked in here - nobody tells us anything, the doors are locked and we are inside.
"Hotel staff are helping us a lot providing water and sandwiches - but nobody is eating really, people are frightened.
"At this moment it's very quiet. The last bomb exploded about 45 minutes ago and it shook the hotel up. Nobody comes in this room and nobody goes out, and we don't really know. "All we know is the bombs are next door and the hotel is shaking every time a bomb goes off. Everybody is just living on their nerves."
