Dubai-based Indian couple among dead in Mumbai

DUBAI // A professional couple from Dubai missing in India are among the dead in the Mumbai terrorist attacks, it was confirmed yesterday. Authorities are not revealing the identity of the married couple as their children, aged three and eight, have yet to be informed of their deaths. They were dining at a restaurant in the Oberoi Hotel on Nov 26 when the attackers entered and fired indiscriminately at guests and diners.

The couple were reported missing on the night of the killings and yesterday friends, family and the owners of the company where the husband worked said they had confirmation they had died. They were visiting Mumbai with their children, who did not accompany them to the hotel. Their family had made frantic calls to the authorities seeking information on their fate. "This is a very difficult time for us. We have not told the children about it yet," said a close friend of the husband.

A Dubai-based Frenchman, Azad Hirdjee, was earlier reported to have flown to Mumbai to collect the bodies of his sister and brother-in-law who were also killed at the Oberoi Hotel. They were named as Loumia Hiridjee and her husband Mourad Amarsy. pmenon@thenational.ae