Hostage sure he was going to die: wife

Wednesday, 5 January, 2000

Canberra Times

By HEATHER GALLAGHER

MELBOURNE: Australian banker Peter Ward was convinced he would be killed during his eight-day hostage ordeal aboard the hijacked Indian Airlines jet, his wife said yesterday.

Anthea Mulakala said in New Delhi yesterday that while she was being brave, her husband was "convinced he was going to die".

Mr Ward, 36, was one of 155 passengers on board the New Delhi-bound plane when five hijackers took control making demands on the Indian Government.

The crisis ended, after one passenger was killed and several others were injured, on December 31 in Afghanistan when India traded three prisoners for the 155 hostages.

"I was always sure he was going to walk off that plane . . . I was being brave. I was very hopeful, I was going to see him again," she said.

"He, in fact, was not hopeful at all.

"I think he was convinced he was going to die."

Ms Mulakala said based on what was happening on the plane, with the hijackers constantly walking around with guns, grenades and knives, most of the passengers believed they would die.

She said the hijackers made constant threats to kill their hostages, but at the same time were strangely considerate and sometimes joked with the passengers.

For example, one of the hijackers stood over a man who fainted, fanning him with a piece of paper with one hand while pointing a gun at him with the other.

Ms Mulakala said her husband had been talking about the ordeal almost constantly since his release.

"For him, one of the most terrifying moments was at the beginning when they started moving passengers about the plane and he was singled out," she said.

"[They] yanked him up and stuck a pistol right at his cheekbone and said, 'Do you want to live or die'?"

After Mr Ward uttered an obligatory "yes" he was released and made his way to the back of the plane.

"He sat down and when he recalled this incident he was surprised at how calm he was when he answered 'yes, I want to live'.

"But after that, about 20 minutes later, he started shaking . . . and the terror overcame him."

Ms Mulakala said her husband tried to keep calm by reading the in-flight magazine from cover to cover and talking to another passenger about the Test cricket in Melbourne. - AAP