Chicago Area Local News

(CBS) Indian authorities are still trying to bring an end to the terror situation in Mumbai, and the death toll is rising, with 160 now confirmed dead, among them Americans.

Early this morning, Indian marine commandos staged a foray into the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and managed to rescue some 200 people who were holed up inside.

As CBS 2's Mike Parker's reports, among the rescued was a Chicago couple who'd been hiding from the terrorists for 40 hours. Carol Mackoff and her husband, Benjamin, are experienced travelers. But nothing could have prepared them for the terror assault that kept them prisoner in their hotel room.

As she told CNN: "We saw men running down our hallway through the peephole in the door. We could see guns in their hands."

As attackers rang the doorbell, Mackoff and the others in her group remained silent, barricading themselves in their room. They were trapped for more than 40 hours, communicating by text message with her son Jonathan as explosions and gunfire went off throughout the hotel.

"They already heard gunshots. Their TV was out. They were told from the front desk to keep their doors locked. Don't answer for anybody," Jonathan Mackoff said.

Jonathan's brother says watching the terrorist siege on television was unnerving.

"The images were very scary," Myron Mackoff said. "I think the fire more than the explosions. … There was a fire on the fourth floor and they were on the third floor and I didn't know which part of the hotel that was in."

Finally, early Friday morning, Indian commandos stormed the hotel and Carol Mackoff sent off the message. "Assault started. Loud explosions and gunfire. Think 1 or 2 terrorists and same amount hostages in our hotel. Really hunkered down now."

Shortly after that, the Mackoffs were freed. Mackoff and her family were eventually rescued by Indian soldiers who used a special password, then guided them to safety. The message: "Safe in lobby. Great rescue but harrowing."

"I think this is about time for the end of their trip. Time to come home," Jonathan Mackoff said.

"Basically told them, next year it's going to be Disneyland," Myron Mackoff added. "We're not letting them out of the country for a little while."

Carol and Benjamin Mackoff were taken to another Mumbai hotel, but they didn't stay long. They booked the first available flight out of Mumbai, flew on to New Delhi and are scheduled to arrive home in Chicago Saturday.

Carol is a treasury financial consultant. Benjamin is a retired Cook County judge.

A Deerfield couple also escaped with the clothes on their backs from the Taj Mahal Hotel.

"So do you guys like our choice of hotels in Mumbai?" Joe and Marilyn Ernsteen joked in an e-mail to their anxious friends on the North Shore.

The Ersteens were at the end of a three-week tour of India. Joe Ernsteen summarized what happened to them in the e-mail:

"First we are awakened by bomb blasts and gun fire and told to stay in our rooms. Then they cut off TV and make us miss our flights home. All our luggage etc. was left in the room as Mar and I decided to walk out through the heavy smoke, the running water from floods above due to the fires created by the bombs and not to be stopped by blocked stairwells -- exit to a rooftop and down the fire escape. The army and police were amazed."

The Independent newspaper, which interviewed the couple, wrote that Marilyn Ernsteen emerged from the hotel "clutching a copy of Nicholas Sparks' novel, "The Lucky One."

Joe Ernsteen elaborated on their decision to leave the hotel for the Independent: "We were in our room at 11:15 when we got a telephone call saying, 'Please stay in your room.' We could hear explosions, lots of gunfire. We just kept the door shut. This morning, at about 9 a.m., I said, 'I've had enough of that.' I put my head out of the door, yelled, and then we walked out by a back staircase."

They also talked with a reporter from the Johannesburg Mail and Guardian, which stated Marilyn Ernsteen carried her passport and purse.

"I didn't know what was going on," she is quoted as saying. "I was terrified."

David Silver of Glenview said the couple is booked on a Saturday flight to return home.

More than 150 people have been killed since terrorist attacks began on Wednesday at several sites in Mumbai, which is India's financial center.

The iconic Taj Hotel is popular with Western businesspeople and tourists. On Thursday, after about 400 people had been brought out of the hotel, officials said it had been cleared of gunmen. But Friday morning, army commanders said that while three gunmen had been killed, two to three more were still inside with about 15 civilians.

A fresh battle raged at the luxury hotel Friday as commandos fired grenades.

CBS 2's Derrick Blakley and Mike Parker, and the Associated Press and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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