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Two New Zealanders holed up in their Mumbai hotel room for almost two days were freed late last night.
David Clemmett and his wife Vinka had been barricaded in their room in the Oberoi hotel with their bed against the door since about 3am on Thursday, when terrorists struck city landmarks in attacks that killed at least 130 people.
But Mr Clemmett's son, Michael, said that when he spoke to his father about 10.30 last night the couple had been evacuated and were being taken to another hotel.
Michael Clemmett, who lives in Auckland, said it had been a long couple of days waiting for his father's release and he was relieved it was over.
AP reported last night that commandos ended the siege of the luxury hotel, and other forces rappelled from helicopters to storm a besieged Jewish center.
"The hotel is under our control," the director general of India's National Security Guard commando unit, J.K. Dutt, said.
Dozens of people - including a man clutching a baby - had been evacuated from the Oberoi, and 24 bodies had been found.
Michael Clemmett earlier told the Weekend Herald that his father,
who lived on Australia's Sunshine Coast, seemed jaded yesterday morning but by evening had got some sleep and sounded much better.
"When I spoke to them last time they were making jokes and laughing," David Clemmett said.
"They've been eating Toblerone and the peanuts from the mini-bar but I think they've pretty much run out."
The hotel's water had also run out.
David Clemmett said the couple had contacted members of the group they were touring with on the hotel's internal phones.
"They've been in contact across the rooms, just keeping a bit of sanity ... They think one of the group has been shot and killed, so that's not the best news."
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade was last night still trying to contact 35 of 179 New Zealanders thought to be in Mumbai.
But it said last night there was no reason to be concerned about them.
Other New Zealanders in Mumbai contacted to by the Weekend Herald described a surreal scene of quiet emptiness in a city that is usually bustling.
Some said they had ventured out for a short walk in their street, where they saw armed guards at cordons.
Former Auckland woman Linda Crossley said she watched from her apartment yesterday afternoon as helicopters put commandos on to Nariman House, one of the areas under seige.
