DATE=1/4/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=INDIA / HOSTAGE EXPERIENCE / L-O
NUMBER=2-257755
BYLINE=ANJANA PASRICHA
DATELINE=NEW DELHI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The week of terror on board the India Airlines
jet hijacked at the end of last month is becoming
clearer. Tuesday, the wife of an Australian held on
board the plane recounted his experiences. Anjana
Pasricha files from New Delhi.
Text: Thirty-six-year-old Peter Ward works in a bank
in Nepal. He boarded the Indian Airlines flight at
Kathmandu on December 24th in a relaxed mood. He was
coming to the Indian capital to join his wife and 18-
month-old daughter for the Christmas holiday season.
Less than an hour after take-off, the flight was
hijacked by five men. Mr. Ward and his fellow
passengers began a terrifying odyssey that took them
across India, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, and
finally Afghanistan, where the hostages spent nearly
seven days before they were released.
In the past four days, Mr. Ward has shared his
experiences with his wife, friends and doctors.
Recounting them Tuesday, his wife, Anthea Mulakala,
described how terror overtook the plane.
/// MULAKALA ACTUALITY///
For him one of the most terrifying moments was at the
beginning when they started moving passengers in the
plane. He was singled out. They sort of him yanked him
up, and stuck a pistol right to his jaw, up to his
cheekbone, and said "Do you want to live or die?"
After that, within 15-20 minutes he started shaking.
He could not stop the terror overcame him. Facing
death so directly, he realized what was going on and
how serious it was.
///END ACTUALITY///
This was only the beginning. Mr. Ward told his wife
the hijackers never stopped threatening the
passengers, throughout their captivity, with weapons
that included sophisticated pistols and A-K-47 assault
rifles.
/// MULAKALA ACTUALITY///
They always had the guns. They were there always. They
pistol-whipped people, hit them on the head with the
guns, so they were very much aware of the arms.
///END ACTUALITY///
Mr. Ward realized he was in Afghanistan when he saw
the markings on his food packets. This only deepened
his sense of despair, and he never thought he would be
released. His wife describes his feelings.
/// MULAKALA ACTUALITY///
How he's described it to me, he went through the eight
days feeling he had been given just a few more hours
to live, or another day to live based on what the
hijackers were saying. They were verbalizing things
like, "Oh there's another deadline, we are going to
kill you. It's all going to be over, we are going to
crash the plane," there were all kind of threats being
hurled about, so they felt one of them was going to
come true, and they were all going to die at some
point.
///END ACTUALITY///
Mr. Ward has called the hijacking as a well-planned
operation and says the hijackers were intelligent and
organized. His wife says he also found them
unpredictable.
/// MULAKALA ACTUALITY///
They were very unpredictable, both in terms of action
and in terms of their behavior. At one moment they
would be extremely friendly, playing with children,
the next moment, for no apparent reason to the
passengers, they would be running up and down the
aisles with their pistols, telling everyone to get
their heads down and their blindfolds on or they would
shoot them. So you went between an uneasy calm to
complete terror.
///END ACTUALITY///
Mr. Ward read whatever was available, cover to cover -
- the in-flight magazine, newspapers, even the safety
instructions. He spent his time counting the seats in
the airplane or estimating how far he was from the
exit door. There were some lighter moments also. He
discussed a cricket series being played between India
and Australia with another passenger and even won a
bet on which side would win. (signed)
NEB / AP / WD
04-Jan-2000 07:01 AM EDT (04-Jan-2000 1201 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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