Post by FaithWalker on Nov 26, 2008 15:37:43 GMT -6
DEVELOPING: At least 40 people are reportedly being held hostage in Mumbai, India, by gunmen who targeted luxury hotels, a popular tourist attraction and a crowded train station in at least seven attacks that killed at least 78 in the nation's financial capital, police and witnesses said.
Eyewitnesses said the terrorists appeared to be targeting Americans and the British.
An organzsation calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen claimed it was behind attacks in India's financial capital Mumbai that have left at least 80 people dead, television channels reported, according to Reuters.
"We were asked if there were any British or Americans," two eyewitnesses told Sky News.
At least 78 people were killed and 200 injured in the attacks, which began late Wednesday night, according to Johnny Joseph, the chief secretary of the state of Maharashtra, of which Mumbai is the capital.
There were reports of new attacks on one hotel, the Trident, and gunfire at another, the JW Marriott. The Army was moving into the Oberoli hotel, according to local television reports.
Police were battling the gunmen, Maharashtra Police Commissioner A.N Roy said.
"The terrorists have used automatic weapons and in some places grenades have been lobbed," Roy said.
The State Department condemned the attacks and said it couldn't confirm any U.S. casualties.
"Our sympathies go out to the families and friends of those killed and injured, and to the people of Mumbai," said Robert A. Wood, a deputy spokesman at the State Department. "We are monitoring the situation very closely and stand ready to support the Indian authorities as they deal with this horrific series of attacks. At this point, we are unaware of any American casualties."
Some of the gunmen are still holed up in buildings, a police official told Reuters, while NMTV is reporting two of the terrorists are dead.
Several European lawmakers were among those inside the hotel.
Sajjad Karim told Britain's Press Association news agency that he and several other lawmakers were barricaded inside the Taj Mahal Hotel.
"I was in the lobby of the hotel when gunmen came in and people started running," he told the Press Association by phone from the basement of the hotel.
"A gunman just stood there spraying bullets around, right next to me," he said. "I managed to turn away and I ran into the hotel kitchen."
Karim was part of a delegation of European lawmakers visiting Mumbai ahead of an upcoming EU-India summit.
Gunmen opened fire on two of the city's best-known luxury hotels, the Taj Mahal and the Oberoi. They also attacked the crowded Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus station in southern Mumbai and Leopold's restaurant, a Mumbai landmark.
"People started running out," an eyewitness said. "The crowd came out of the station: I saw people limping and coming out. I said 'Run.' We ran and I said, finally I said, 'Run' and one person got hit by bullet and fell down and I got hit on the neck and went to the hospital and I just came from there "
It was not immediately clear what the motive was for the attacks.
"It was really scary," said Janice Sequeira, a tourist who had been at a restaurant in the Taj Mahal Hotel. "It was like the sound of loud crackers, not one but several, we just ran out of there."
At the Oberoi, police officer P.I. Patil said shots had been fired inside and the hotel had been cordoned off. He would not give any other details.
The Press Trust of India news agency quoted Mumbai General Railway Police Commissioner A.K. Sharma as saying that several men armed with rifles and grenades were still in the train station.
Leopold's restaurant was riddled with bullet holes and there were blood stains on the floor and shoes left by fleeing customers, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene.
At least 25 people had been brought to the G.T. Hospital near the shootings, said hospital official Yogesh Pandey.
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Eyewitnesses said the terrorists appeared to be targeting Americans and the British.
An organzsation calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen claimed it was behind attacks in India's financial capital Mumbai that have left at least 80 people dead, television channels reported, according to Reuters.
"We were asked if there were any British or Americans," two eyewitnesses told Sky News.
At least 78 people were killed and 200 injured in the attacks, which began late Wednesday night, according to Johnny Joseph, the chief secretary of the state of Maharashtra, of which Mumbai is the capital.
There were reports of new attacks on one hotel, the Trident, and gunfire at another, the JW Marriott. The Army was moving into the Oberoli hotel, according to local television reports.
Police were battling the gunmen, Maharashtra Police Commissioner A.N Roy said.
"The terrorists have used automatic weapons and in some places grenades have been lobbed," Roy said.
The State Department condemned the attacks and said it couldn't confirm any U.S. casualties.
"Our sympathies go out to the families and friends of those killed and injured, and to the people of Mumbai," said Robert A. Wood, a deputy spokesman at the State Department. "We are monitoring the situation very closely and stand ready to support the Indian authorities as they deal with this horrific series of attacks. At this point, we are unaware of any American casualties."
Some of the gunmen are still holed up in buildings, a police official told Reuters, while NMTV is reporting two of the terrorists are dead.
Several European lawmakers were among those inside the hotel.
Sajjad Karim told Britain's Press Association news agency that he and several other lawmakers were barricaded inside the Taj Mahal Hotel.
"I was in the lobby of the hotel when gunmen came in and people started running," he told the Press Association by phone from the basement of the hotel.
"A gunman just stood there spraying bullets around, right next to me," he said. "I managed to turn away and I ran into the hotel kitchen."
Karim was part of a delegation of European lawmakers visiting Mumbai ahead of an upcoming EU-India summit.
Gunmen opened fire on two of the city's best-known luxury hotels, the Taj Mahal and the Oberoi. They also attacked the crowded Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus station in southern Mumbai and Leopold's restaurant, a Mumbai landmark.
"People started running out," an eyewitness said. "The crowd came out of the station: I saw people limping and coming out. I said 'Run.' We ran and I said, finally I said, 'Run' and one person got hit by bullet and fell down and I got hit on the neck and went to the hospital and I just came from there "
It was not immediately clear what the motive was for the attacks.
"It was really scary," said Janice Sequeira, a tourist who had been at a restaurant in the Taj Mahal Hotel. "It was like the sound of loud crackers, not one but several, we just ran out of there."
At the Oberoi, police officer P.I. Patil said shots had been fired inside and the hotel had been cordoned off. He would not give any other details.
The Press Trust of India news agency quoted Mumbai General Railway Police Commissioner A.K. Sharma as saying that several men armed with rifles and grenades were still in the train station.
Leopold's restaurant was riddled with bullet holes and there were blood stains on the floor and shoes left by fleeing customers, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene.
At least 25 people had been brought to the G.T. Hospital near the shootings, said hospital official Yogesh Pandey.
Link