A fresh explosion has rocked a Mumbai hotel as Indian police battle to release hostages the day after gunmen carried out attacks across the city, killing more than 100 people. A standoff continued at the Oberoi Hotel, where about 100 members of a specialized unit of the Indian police undertook an operation to rescue four to five foreigners hostages on the 19th floor. CNN producer Phil O’Sullivan reported a "very loud explosion came from right deep in the hotel." At the nearby Taj Mahal hotel, police had rescued most of the hostages and evacuated dozens of guests…
A fresh explosion has rocked a Mumbai hotel as Indian police battle to release hostages the day after gunmen carried out attacks across the city, killing more than 100 people. A standoff continued at the Oberoi Hotel, where about 100 members of a specialized unit of the Indian police undertook an operation to rescue four to five foreigners hostages on the 19th floor. CNN producer Phil O’Sullivan reported a “very loud explosion came from right deep in the hotel.” At the nearby Taj Mahal hotel, police had rescued most of the hostages and evacuated dozens of guests.
As concerned family members stood outside, medics took stretchers into the hotel and brought out bodies covered in white sheets. Police were going floor to floor to flush out gunmen. About five of them were believed to be holed up in the Taj; another three in Oberoi, Maharashtra state officials said.
The death toll from the series of coordinated attacks was at 101, including at least six foreigners, by Thursday afternoon authorities said. The Italian Foreign Ministry confirmed one of its citizens had been killed. The nationalities of the others were still being checked. Another 314 people were wounded in the attacks, including seven British and two Australian citizens.
In addition, at least nine gunmen were killed in fighting with police. Also among the dead was Hemant Karkare, the chief of the Mumbai police’s anti-terror squad, and as many as 11 police officers.
An American woman who was still inside the Taj with her husband told CNN by phone Thursday that television feeds into the room have stopped and she did not know what was going on. “We have water and we’re hunkered down and patient and ready to wait it out,” she said. “We’re OK. Last night was a different story, but today we’re OK.” The woman, whom CNN is not identifying so as not to disclose her location, said she heard gunfire outside her room Wednesday night and “a man with an American accent screaming for help.”
Authorities found 8 kilograms (17 pounds) of RDX, one of the most powerful kinds of military explosives, at a restaurant near the Taj, indicating that the attackers may have been planning more violence. Gunmen also remained holed up in a building called Nariman House, where several Jewish families live. Rabbi Gabriel Holtzberg, the city’s envoy for the Chabad community, was being held inside with his wife, a member of the Hasidic Jewish movement said. The couple’s 18-month-old baby was released unharmed.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Igal Palmor told CNN that the situation at the house was unclear. Two women and an infant were seen escaping from the building but three to four residents remained captive inside, an Indian official said. Police said gunmen fired indiscriminately from the building. Stray bullets killed a couple in their home and a 16-year-old boy who stepped outside, police said. Two women and an infant were seen escaping from the building but three to four residents remained captive inside, said Johny Joseph, the state’s chief secretary. Police surrounded the building and exchanged gunfire in which one of the gunmen reportedly was shot, CNN’s sister station CNN-IBN said.
A standoff at a fourth location – the Cama Hospital for women and infants – appeared to have been resolved by Thursday morning, CNN-IBN reported. It was not immediately known whether gunmen at the hospital fled or were killed.
Authorities locked down Mumbai and asked residents to stay inside. The stock market in the city – India’s financial hub – was closed, as were schools and colleges. The city is also home to Bollywood, the Hindi-language film industry.
Government officials said the attacks caught them completely unaware. Police say the attackers came by boats to the waterfront near the Gateway of India monument. Of the nine suspects arrested in connection with the attacks, seven are fishermen. Police also found a boat loaded with explosives near the Taj, which is located on the waterfront. “Those men were wearing jackets and they carried big big bags,” one fisherman told CNN-IBN.
The gunmen then hijacked cars – including a police van – and broke up into at least three groups to carry out the attacks, police said. One group headed toward the Cafe Leopold, a popular hangout for Western tourists, firing indiscriminately at passers-by on the street. They then opened fire and lobbed grenades at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station, a Victorian building. As police rushed to the scene of the attacks, gunmen attacked the Cama Hospital. Two other groups attacked the Oberoi and Taj hotels.
A man told local television that he was in the Oberoi around 10 p.m. when gunmen entered the lobby and began rounding up guests, asking for anyone with a U.S. or British passport and taking about 15 of them hostage. Bhushan Gagrani, a spokesman for Maharashtra, said no one had claimed responsibility for the attacks. But several Indian news outlets reported receiving e-mails from a group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen that claimed responsibility for the attacks. CNN was not able to verify the reports.
Reaction from the United Nations, United States and United Kingdom was swift as world leaders joined in condemning the attacks. Read more on the international reaction India has suffered a number of attacks in recent years, including a string of bombs that ripped through packed Mumbai commuter trains and platforms during rush hour in July 2006. About 209 people were killed in that attack. Last July, a series of synchronized bomb blasts in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad left 49 dead and more than 100 wounded, police said.
International hot lines
Australia: Department of Foreign Affairs offers these numbers: In Australia: 1-800-002 214. Australians overseas, call 61 2 6261-3305.
India: JJ Hospital, 91 22 2373-5555; St. George Hospital (Dr. Ashok Shinde), 91 98 6905-0622; Police control room, 91 22 2262-5020, 91 22 2262-1855
UK: The British Ministry of Foreign Affairs is directing concerned UK nationals to call 44 (0)20 7008-0000
U.S.: The State Department has established a Consular Call Center: The number is 888-407-4747.
Tatiana is the news co-ordinator for TravelDailyNews Media Network (traveldailynews.gr, traveldailynews.com and traveldailynews.asia). Her role includes to monitor the hundrends of news sources of TravelDailyNews Media Network and skim the most important according to our strategy. She holds a Bachelor degree in Communication & Mass Media from Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens and she has been editor and editor-in-chief in various economic magazines and newspapers.
