'I carried him down from 45th floor...'

Dubai - Survivors of Address Hotel fire narrate stories of helplessness and heroism.

Stories of hope, heroism and helplessness emerged the day after the blaze at the Address Downtown Hotel on New Year's Eve.
It was a night when millionaires were briefly thrown into the street with nothing in their hands. But the night also saw amazing gestures of compassion and courage among people from different walks of life.
Indian national Renny Joseph, a production controller in Malayalam movies, remembered how he rescued a 70-year-old Italian man while he himself was running for his life.
"I was rushing down the stairs from the 54th floor.One woman came crying to me when I reached the 45th floor. I saw this grandfather gasping for breath and she wanted help to carry him down. Apparently, he had suffered a couple of heart attacks earlier," Renny told Khaleej Times.
The young man said he didn't think twice. "I carried him on my shoulders and somehow managed to climb all the way down. In between the security guards were helping me.But they were again busy handling the melee."
After reaching down, Renny said, he handed over the old man to the police officers at the site. "Before being taken in the ambulance, he called me his son and hugged me and blessed me. His family kept calling me and thanking me several times today also," Renny said on Friday evening.
He was with popular Malayalam actor Baburaj and crew in town for his upcoming movie's shoot. Baburaj said he managed to take only his passport before rushing down the stairs from the 54th floor. "I don't have my wallet, my phone or anything with me. I saw millionaires in their night clothes and some even in bathrobes out in the street after we all managed to escape."
sajila@khaleejtimes.com

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