Three business leaders from Bermuda were in the capital of Bahrain when violence erupted there on Wednesday night.Cheryl Packwood, Stuart Lacey and Belaid Jheengoor hosted a conference promoting the Island’s financial services just streets from where police stormed an encampment of peaceful pro-democracy protestors in Manama.Mr Lacey, managing director of Altree Custody Services, captured photographs of demonstrators waving flags and army tanks rolling into the city as he fled the unrest early yesterday morning. He arrived safely in Qatar and Mr Jheengoor, a director in asset management practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers, made it to Dubai.Ms Packwood, CEO of Business Bermuda, spoke with The Royal Gazette by telephone yesterday evening, as she headed to the airport to leave Bahrain, which is seven hours ahead of Bermuda. She said: “What happened last night was horrible. We were all shocked that the Government became so violent and cracked down so harshly on the Bahranian people. We weren’t expecting that.“Bahrain is pretty much of a ghost town now. Just now we went to Pearl Roundabout and there are still tanks and police and a large military presence.”She told how she and her colleagues drove past Pearl Roundabout, a landmark in the centre of Manama, where demonstrators hoping to emulate the successful protests in Cairo’s Tahrir Square had gathered on Wednesday afternoon. “The atmosphere was festive. It was exhilarating. Everybody was out, it was quite amazing. We stopped and took pictures and videos and talked to some people and then we went to our event.“At about midnight, we went back to the hotel through the square. There didn’t seem to be any threat. I ended up staying up all night because of jet lag and I watched the events unfold on TV. This was happening just a couple of kilometres down the road.”The media has reported how police in the Gulf island kingdom attacked demonstrators, killing three, in a move to stifle the protests inspired by similar movements across the Middle East. Reuters said police fired buckshot and tear gas into Pearl Square overnight, dispersing 2,000 people, including women and children.Ms Packwood, who is travelling with son Harouna Gadio, 14, a Somersfield Academy student, stayed inside the Ritz Hotel all day before leaving to catch her flight to London last night.But South African-born Mr Lacey, a father-of-two who lives in Paget, was determined to leave Manama yesterday morning. Speaking from his hotel room in Qatar, the 39-year-old told this newspaper: “I got up at 6am and called the front desk and they said the situation had escalated.”Mr Lacey went to an early-morning meeting before deciding, against the hotel’s advice, to try to make his 10.30am flight.“I got a hotel car and we basically left. It proved to be the right decision, fortunately, but I was very nervous on the way out. I saw a huge amount of police presence, lots of machine guns, very angry. The driver said ‘look on the other side of the highway’. There was just a massive line of army tanks. I saw a man being dragged out of a car, he had a camera. They [police] were smashing their baton on the car.”Mr Lacey posted regular status updates on Facebook for friends and family and e-mailed The Royal Gazette while en route. His first dispatch, sent about 8am in Bahrain, said: “Situation very tense. Many people killed last night one mile from my Ritz hotel. Trying to escape city centre in hotel car. Nervous. Highways blocked and just saw columns of heavy armour rolling into central Manama in other lane of highway.“Many, many police and ambulances. Local reports from hotel staff saying police were brutal. We passed Pearl Roundabout last night only hours before things went bad.”Later, he wrote: “Made it over main bridge. Most roads blocked. Airport still open, trying to catch flight to Qatar.”Once he arrived at the airport, he e-mailed: “Bit hectic here. Just spoke to other man who came different route. He showed me cell photo of car crushed under tank he witnessed. He was very distressed. Driver said all roads into Manama now shut by army. People all look same but can feel palpable tension. Hope to get on flight soon.”Finally, he wrote to say he’d made it onto a flight to Doha, the capital of Qatar. “Wheels up. Got rum?” he joked.We reached Mr Jheengoor via e-mail. He told us: “I am out of there. In Dubai. It was extremely calm today in Bahrain, which is worrying.“I went to Pearl Square briefly last night about 10pm with my driver, [a] local Bahraini guy. It was a peaceful gathering with women and children and young adults. No sign of any disturbance.”ends