Pics by Rons Bantwal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai
Another Loud Explosion near Hotel Trident
at 01.10 pm
Scenes from Hotel Taj
A loud explosion was heard near Hotel Trident where about 10-12 terrorist are holed up. Police sources also said that there are about 30 hostages held by the terrorists inside the hotel. When enquired, police refused to divulge any details about the explosion. They have clearly been instructed not to speak to media right now. A military vehicle carrying commandos has just arrived on the spot and police are driving mediamen and people away from the spot. Corden line has been brought forth
One Terrorist Killed in Nariman House
at 12.50 pm
Police sources said that among the 7 terrorists hiding inside Nariman House, one was shot dead a few minutes ago. Six more terrorists are suspected to be hiding inside the building. Meanwhile another 4 terrorists are holed up in Hotel Taj where at least 40-50 tourists have been held hostage by the terrorists.
- Two dead bodies of women found inside Taj Hotel [12.30pm, IST]
- England's cricket tour of India cancelled - (11.50am IST)
- Cricket Champion League 20-20 is also uncerntain
- Taj Hotel is sealed , says British Envoy in Mumbai
- Seven British citizens injured - British Envoy
Navy, Army take control at Oberoi
at 12.05pm, IST
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil has said that there can be 10 to 12 terrorists involved in the terror attack inside Taj Hotel. Five of them have been killed and one of them arrested, he told media persons outside the hotel as security forces prepared to launch an assault to end the terror.
11.45am, IST
Latest reports say that the Navy and Army have taken control at Oberoi. Meanwhile, a child of foreign nationality and an Indian maid have been seen coming out of Nariman House in South Mumbai. Reports also say that US intelligence officials are among the foreigners killed at Taj Hotel.
Earlier, Fire brigade personnel have started rescuing people from Taj Hotel. Top French Nuclear physicist has also been rescued from the hotel. Smoke has been seen billowing from the new building of the Taj Hotel which stands next to the old building where terrorists are holed up. While NSG operation was on in the old building, fire brigade personnel were trying to douse fire in the new wing.
Terror attacks in Mumbai; six foreigners among 101 dead
10.30am, IST
At least 101 people have been killed in attacks by gunmen in Mumbai, police said on Thursday.
"At least six foreigners have been killed and the death figure has gone up to 101 now," Ramesh Tayde, a senior police officer told from Mumbai's control room.
In one of the most violent terror attacks on Indian soil, Mumbai came under an unprecedented night attack as terrorists used heavy machine guns, including AK-47s, and grenades to strike at the city's most high-profile targets -- the hyper-busy CST (formerly VT) rail terminus; the landmark Taj Hotel at the Gateway and the luxury Oberoi Trident at Nariman Point; the domestic airport at Santa Cruz; the Cama and GT hospitals near CST; the Metro Adlabs multiplex and Mazgaon Dockyard -- killing at least 101 and sending hundreds of injured to hospital, according to latest reports.
The attacks have taken a tragic toll on the city's top police brass: The high-profile chief of the anti-terror squad Hemant Karkare was killed; Mumbai's additional commissioner of police (east) Ashok Kamte was gunned down outside the Metro; and celebrated encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar was also killed.
No more: Salaskar, Karkare and Kamate
The attacks appeared to be aimed at getting international attention as the terrorists took upto 40 British nationals and other foreigners hostage. The chairman of Hindustan Unilever Harish Manwani and CEO of the company Nitin Paranjpe were among the guests trapped at the Oberoi. All the internal board members of the multinational giant were reported to be holed up in the Oberoi hotel.
Two terrorists were reported holed up inside the Oberoi Hotel. Fresh firing has been reported at Oberoi and Army has entered the hotel to flush out the terrorists.
An unknown outfit, Deccan Mujahideen, has sent an email to news organizations claiming that it carried out the Mumbai attacks.
Suspected terrorist
The Army and Navy in Mumbai were put on alert. 65 Army commandos and 200 NSG commandos were being rushed to Mumbai, Home Minister Shivraj Patil said.
The Navy commandos too have been asked to assist the police. Special secretary M L Kumawat is in constant touch with the state police.
Some media reports attributed the attack to Lashkar-e-Taiba. There were also unconfirmed reports that some of the terrorists came in by sea. A boat laden with explosives was recovered later at night off the Gateway of India.
Well after midnight, sources said two of the terrorists were shot and wounded at Girgaum in south Mumbai. The two were driving in a commandeered silver-coloured Skoda car. Earlier, these men had sprayed bullets from a police Bolero, outside the Metro Adlabs multiplex.
The attacks occurred at the busiest places. Besides hotels and hospitals, terrorists struck at railway stations, Crawford Market, Wadi Bunder and on the Western Express Highway near the airport. Several of these places are within a one-km radius of the commissioner of police's office.
"This is definitely a terrorist strike. Seven places have been attacked with automatic weapons and grenades. Terrorists are still holed up in three locations Taj and Oberoi hotels and GT Hospital. Encounters are on at all three places," said Maharashtra DGP A N Roy.
St George's Hospital and G T Hospital were said to have received 75 bodies and more than 250 injured people, additional municipal commissioner R A Rajeev said. Bombay Hospital got two bodies and 30 injured people were admitted there; Cooper Hospital, Vile Parle, got three dismembered bodies.
Three of the deaths occurred inside the Taj and one G T Hospital attendant died in a shootout inside the hospital. There were reports of people cowering under tables and chairs at both the Taj as well as G T Hospital.
Metro Junction resident Manoj Goel said: "My brother, Manish, died in the firing at Colaba's Hamaal Galli." Cops fired back at the men -- probably from one of the Lashkar groups, dressed in black and with backpacks and SRPF, Crime Branch, ATS and teams of military commandos were summoned to the spot. Train services at CST were suspended and all roads leading to and from south Mumbai were blockaded.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh cut short his Kerala visit and was returning to Mumbai. He described the situation in Mumbai as "very serious".
Deshmukh promised "stringent action" against the assailants but the mood across Mumbai was not so optimistic.
There were reports of firing around several landmark buildings in the Colaba-Nariman Point area, including the Taj hotel, Oberoi and other tourist attractions and pubs like Leopold's. The top floor of Oberoi was said to be on fire amid reports of blasts in the area and blood-smeared bodies were being brought out of the Taj lobby.
Terrorists were said to be holed up at the Taj as well as G T Hospital and cops scampered to cordon off these places. A white flag was seen fluttering from an Oberoi Hotel window around 11.20 pm, where a blast was said to have occurred.
The blast on the Western Express Highway -- near Centaur Hotel outside the airport -- occurred in a taxi, deputy commissioner of police Nissar Tamboli said.
The firing and bombing started close to the Gateway of India. The gunbattle then moved on towards CST and raged on for over an hour from 10 pm, sending commuters running out of the station.
The assailants also fired into the crowd at CST and people on the trains and then ran out of the station themselves and into neighbouring buildings, including Cama Hospital, after being challenged by cops.
SRPF personnel then entered the iconic BMC building -- just opposite CST -- to take aim at the assailants, BMC commissioner Jairaj Phatak said. "We fear some of the assailants are still inside the station and we want to catch them if they come out,'' a police official said.
Vikhroli police station senior inspector Habib Ansari was on his way to work from his Colaba home when he saw two armed men, with sophisticated weaponry, trying to run into bylanes near the Gateway of India."I rushed back to Colaba and all policemen, including GRP and RPF personnel, were called up," he added.
at 8.10am, IST
Army moves in Oberoi, Taj to flush out holed up terrorists
Army commandoes moved into the luxury Oberoi and the Taj Mahal hotels early on Thursday to flush out terrorists holed up hours after an unspecified number of heavily armed gunmen went on a rampage in ten places in South Mumbai killing 80 persons and taking some foreigners hostage.
Four suspected terrorists were killed in two separate incidents overnight including two during a gun battle in the country's iconic landmark Taj hotel, police said.
Maharashtra deputy chief minister R R Patil said nine suspected terrorists have been arrested. Schools and colleges were ordered to be closed.
Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said five police officers including Anti Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare were killed in one of the worst terror strikes in the country's financial capital that in all claimed the lives of at least 11 police personnel.
"The operation (by security forces) is still going on," he said. Besides army commandoes, naval commandos and Rapid Action force personnel joined in the operations to rescue those stranded in the two hotels. Five columns of Army and 200 NSG commandoes have been rushed. Two sten guns have been recovered by police so far, he added.
Deshmukh said it was not immediately known how many terrorists were involved in the audacious attack in ten places that shook the western metropolis. The chief minister said the Taj and Oberoi are not in control yet. He said there are no terrorists in Cama hospital which was also targeted by gunmen.
Police reported that some hostages were still being held at the Taj Mahal and Oberoi with eyewitnesses saying the gunmen had targeted foreigners after they kept shouting: "Who has US or UK passports?" Several guests were also stuck.
Fire was still raging in the old wing of Taj hotel several hours after it was rocked by five to six blasts and enormous clouds of black smoke rose from the century-old edifice on Mumbai's waterfront.
at 3.30am, IST (Rediff)
A little over four hours since gunshots first erupted at the CST railway terminal, and coordinated terrorist attacks spread to various parts of South Bombay, the situation remains fluid.
At the Taj Mahal Hotel, a contingent of Navy commandos has joined the police and Central Reserve Police Force personnel attempting to enter the hotel and flush out the terrorists. From within the hotel, word is that occasional explosions, and sporadic gunfire, continue at the time of writing this.
At the Oberoi Hotel, the army has taken over the operation and entered the hotel; it is now reportedly engaged in flushing out the terrorists hiding within.
At the Cama Hospital, a specialty medical center for women and children, official sources say terrorists are holed up on the fourth floor and have been firing from that vantage point. Police have surrounded the hospital and are engaging the terrorists in an ongoing gun battle.
ATS chief Hemant Karkare died of gunshot wounds sustained in the ongoing operation against terrorists who have laid seige to South Mumbai.
Krishnakumar of Rediff.com reports from the Juhu region that a bomb went off in a taxi that was speeding along the Western Express Highway from Vile Parle towards Andheri, killing two people and injuring two others.
"The taxi exploded and went up in flames as it sped past the traffic island under the flyover at the domestic airport," an eyewitness said on phone. "The vehicle, which was up in flames soon after it crossed the traffic signal, was on the left side. A bystander and a person in the taxi were killed.
Reports indicate that this was perhaps the night's highest-intensity blast. Krishnakumar reports that the taxi's doors were found a distance of 50 meters or more away, and body parts of the victims had been thrown even further.
Meanwhile at the Taj Mahal Hotel, the standoff between police, who have surrounded the hotel, and terrorists who are holed up inside, continues.
A short while ago, power went off in parts of the hotel, adding to the sense of panic and fear. Well known food critic Sabina Sahgal Saikia, who is inside the hotel, told NDTV on phone just now that the guests are terrified, and unaware of just what is happening around them. It is unclear at this point in time whether the power has been turned off by the police as they battle the terrorists.
at 1.30am, IST, Nov 27
A foreign national who managed to escape from the Taj Mahal Hotel, where a state of seige currently exists, told NDTV that armed and masked gunmen were wandering around inside the hotel, looking for people with American or British passports.
The eyewitness account appears to confirm the growing belief among law enforcement circles that this latest attack is aimed directly at foreign nationals -- hence the choice of star hotels as prime targets. They further theorize that automatic weapons are being used rather than bombs in order to orchestrate such targeted mayhem.
Meanwhile, the real dangers of the situation are being exaggerated by a proliferation of rumors. One such that has been aired on a few channels including CNN suggested that firing was taking place at the JW Marriott, another five star hotel in the Juhu region of suburban Mumbai. A source in the hotel however confirmed just now that there was no alarm at the hotel, and no incident of any kind had taken place.
Latest at 12.30 am, Nov 27:
A gun battle is ongoing in the Taj Hotel in Colaba. Within the last ten minutes, a guest at the hotel got word out to CNN via email that a grenade had exploded within the hotel premises just then.
Additional Commissioner of Police AN Roy and other officials confirmed that some armed terrorists are holed up in the iconic hotel.
Police officials said they have no information of a hostage situation; they say guests have been sequestered in safe areas of the hotel, and the police are now engaged in flushing out the terrorists from their hiding place.
Terror Attacks in Mumbai - 80 Dead, Several injured
Mumbai, Nov 26: At least 80 people were dead and 250 injured in the terror attacks, hospital sources said.
Two terrorists were still inside the Oberoi Hotel and commando operation was on.
Two terrorists were killed at Chaupatti in Mumbai, police said.
Terrorists hijacked white police jeep near Metro cinema in South Mumbai .
Firing was also reported near Maharashtra state assembly building in South Mumbai.
Armed with AK-47 rifles and grenades, a couple of terrorists entered the passenger hall of CST and opened fire and threw grenades, Mumbai General Railway Police Commissioner A K Sharma said.
The terror strike which began at 10:33 PM at Chhatrapathi Shivaji Terminus(CST), formerly known as the Victoria Terminus(VT), claimed 10 lives in the premises of the station alone, police said.
Three persons were killed in a bomb explosion in a taxi on Mazegaon dockyard road and an equal number were gunned down at Taj Hotel. The victims in the hotel were its employees.
The lobby of the Oberoi hotel was on fire and the hotel evacuated, eyewitnesses said.
Maharashtra DGP A N Roy said tonight's attack in "at least seven places" is a "terror strike."
Sharma said 30 persons were injured in the CST incident. Commandoes were rushed to the CST which wore a deserted look and train services suspended.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh is cutting his Kerala visit and returning to Mumbai. He described the situation in Mumbai as "very serious".
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has condemned terror attacks in Mumbai and assured Maharashtra government of all assistance.
The NSG commandos were on standby and national disaster response force unit is being rushed to Mumbai, the Ministry of Home Affairs officials said.
Some people were injured in the firing in Oberoi hotel, and taken to a nearby hospital in police vans and ambulance. Firing was also reported in Taj hotel.
Firing was reported at Colaba, Nariman Point and near Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminal, formerly Victoria Terminus and it was still continuing.
Firing was also reported at Cama Hospital in south Mumbai, police said, adding that a blast was reported in a taxi under a flyover in suburban Vile Parle. A bomb went off in a taxi in Mazegaon dockyard road.
SRPF personnel then entered the iconic BMC building -- just opposite CST -- to take aim at the assailants, BMC commissioner Jairaj Phatak said. "We fear some of the assailants are still inside the station and we want to catch them if they come out," a police official said.
Vikhroli police station senior inspector Habib Ansari was on his way to work from his Colaba home when he saw two armed men, with sophisticated weaponry, trying to run into bylanes near the Gateway of India.
"I rushed back to Colaba and all policemen, including GRP and RPF personnel, were called up," he added.
Bhisham Mansukhani, a journalist, was attending a wedding reception at the Taj's Crystal Room. "I was inside the bar when glass shards almost hit my eye," he said. "More than 200 people were escorted inside Chambers, a business centre inside the hotel," he added.