Justin Dowding in Mumbai.

THIRTY minutes was all that stood between a local man and gunmen at the centre of the Mumbai terrorist attacks.

Justin Dowding, 27, had been in the Leopold Cafe some 30 minutes before Islamist terrorists launched the first in a wave of attacks across the city that left 179 people dead and 300 injured.

On leaving the cafe, Mr Dowding took a taxi back to his hotel opposite the train station, only to encounter more danger.

‘I wandered around a few shops and then suddenly heard a loud explosion. People started running and shouting,’ he said.

‘I wasn’t sure what was going on at first but then another tourist ran past me and said it was a bomb. It was then that I could hear shooting coming from the train station. It was quite surreal.’

Mr Dowding, who attended Castel Primary and the Grammar school, dashed to his hotel which was just being locked up.  He sat and watched events unfold live on TV.

‘It wasn’t until we saw the news that we realised the seriousness of what had happened,’ he said.