Two Malaysians, Jagdish Singh and S Sivanathan, who escaped unharmed from a bomb and rocket attack on the Serena Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan on Wednesday, today recounted the moments they went through in the war-torn country.

"We were very lucky we were not in the lobby as we were having breakfast in a nearby restaurant about 50m from the scene of the incident," said Jagdish, 40.

He said he and Sivanathan, 29, were having breakfast at 8.25am local time.

"We were supposed to be in the hotel lobby at 8.30am to wait for the Afghanistan minister for communication, information and technology for a meeting," he told reporters at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) here today.

Jagdish and Sivanathan, who are staff of International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber Threats (Impact), arrived at KLIA early this morning.

Both were supposed to be in Kabul till next Tuesday but due to the incident they left in a hurry.

Jagdish said while in the restaurant, they clearly saw a rocket slamming into their hotel's lobby and felt the surrounding area shake and thick smoke and confusion reigned.

Seek refuge in hotel bunker

He said they together with other people were directed by security forces to take cover in a underground hotel bunker.

"It was lucky that the bunker was nearby. Although underground, the shocks could still be felt and we heard four more explosions outside," Jagdish said, adding that they were in the bunker for two hours before being allowed to return to the hotel.

Sivanathan and Jagdish were in Kabul beginning Oct 18 for a joint Impact and International Telecomunication Union (ITU) project to evaluate cyber security and provide training to Afghan government officers.

They praised the efficiency and speed of the hotel security staff to look after them.

In the attack that targeted United Nations staff 12 people died including six UN personnel, two security guards and a civilian.

- Bernama