Bernadine Moss is a co-owner of the restaurant. She told ABC7 Chicago that her sister was on her way to the Taj hotel when it was attacked.
"My niece from Dubai called and told her [my sister] to turn back and go home and watch TV. So, she went home, and that's what she saw," Moss said.
A group of medical residents nearby found it hard to watch what was happening to their countrymen. "We can just watch , but we can't do anything other than contacting them and making sure they're fine. So, it's very difficult," said Prathap Simhadri.
A bit north in Skokie, a group of Orthodox Jews prayed for hostages at a sister organization in Mumbai Thursday morning.
Much of Chicago's Orthodox Jews community heard about the situation in Mumbai via the Internet. Before there were reports on television and radio, there was information spreading worldwide.
Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife, Rivka, based at a Nariman House and are among the hostages.
"Obviously a whole night for looking[for them]. I haven't slept. I'm trying to figure out what's going on there and praying and trying to see what we can do to help," said Rabbi Meir Moscowitz of the Skokie Chabad Center, who went to rabbinical school with Rabbi Holtzberg.
So, Chicagoans a world away from the attack are doing what they can to help. For now, there is only compassion and prayer.
