24 hours later, Forces battle to flush out terrorists in Mumbai

Mumbai continued to be under siege on Thursday night despite a day-long operation by security forces to eliminate terrorists inside the Taj and Trident hotels where some 200 people remain trapped amid blasts and exchange of gunfire in the aftermath of Wednesday’s audacious terror strikes that has cost 101 lives.

Late in the night, there was a major fire in the Trident (Oberoi) hotel where about 200 people have been trapped and terrorists exploded grenades that set the roof ablaze.

 

The other scene of action was at Nariman House, a Jewish residential complex, where some Israelis have been held hostage by some three-four terrorists.

 

The hand of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba is suspected in the worst terror attacks in the country but the outfit denied any involvement.

 

While all the hostages in Taj were evacuated to safety, the situation in Trident worsened with the terrorists involved in a grim battle with security forces.

 

There were heavy casualties among the staff in both the hotels with Taj alone accounting for 17 of them. G-o-CMaharashtra R H Hooda said they had done a detailed search of the 395-room hotel but declined to give numbers of terrorists holed up or those trapped.

 

Among the dead were nine foreigners and 14 police personnel including ATS chief Hemant Karkare and four other senior officers.

 

Security agencies have sought to blame LeT, one of whose activists was captured alive in Trident. He is said to be Abu Ismail hailing from Faridkot in Pakistan.

 

The terrorists numbering about 20-25 are believed to have landed on Mumbai shores after a mother vessel dropped them in three inflatable boats. Seven of them have been gunned down.

 

The Indian navy claimed that they have spotted the mother vessel and giving it a hot chase.

 

Even as the combing operations were underway, one more explosion rocked Taj which has already suffered several grenade blasts setting several rooms ablaze.

 

Taj general manager K S Kang lost his wife and two children in one of the fires set off by the terrorists.

 

Elite commandoes of the topline security forces from army, navy, NSG and Rapid Action Force were involved in the raging encounter with the heavily-armed terrorists in the two hotels.

 

As dusk fell, there was expectation that the forces would intensify their assault to overwhelm the terrorists who struck in ten places across the city. About 300 people were injured.

 

One of the army officials was quoted as saying that the terrorists spoke Punjabi and could be from Pakistan's Punjab.

 

State Home Minister R R Patil said authorities had "vital clues" about the attacks but gave no details.

 

The foreigners killed in the incidents included one each fromBritain, Japan, Australia and Italy. There were unconfirmed reports about two US nationals being among those killed.

 

A number of people, including MPs Lalmani Prasad (BSP) and Jaisingh Gaekwad (BJP) were stuck at Taj hotel.

 

As Wednesday’s night's terror incidents spread a sense of unease in the metropolis, schools and colleges were ordered closed.

 

The Bombay Stock Exchange did not function on Thursday.

 

Suburban trains and city buses operated normally but without usual rush. Except for cancellation of three international flights, domestic air services to Mumbai were maintained.

 

Nine foreigners killed in terror attacks in Mumbai

 

At least nine foreigners, including a woman, were killed and 18 injured when heavily armed terrorists attacked two luxury hotels and other public places in Mumbai in one of the worst terror strikes in the country on Wednesday night.

 

The slain foreigners included a Briton, an Australian, a Japanese and an Italian.

 

British High Commissioner Sir Richard Stagg said a UK national died in the attack on the Taj hotel, where seven of his compatriots were also injured.

 

"We have been checking in all hospitals and are making arrangements for the British nationals who are there in the city," he said, adding "we have also informed the family members."

 

According to residential medical officer of St George Hospital, Ulhal Vasave, seven bodies of foreign nationals were brought to the hospital on Wednesday night.

 

The body of one Japanese victim was brought to the Bombayhospital on Thursday morning.

 

The slain foreigners who have been identified are Braid Gilbert Taylor (49), an Australian; British national Andrias Leveras (aged about 75) yrs); a Japanese businessman Hisashi Tsuda (38) and an Italian Antonio de Lorenzo.

 

Two males and one female -- Michael Stert (73), Jeurgan Hetras Rudolph (68) and Stredder Daphne (50) -- were also among the dead, but their nationalities were yet to be ascertained. Two more slain foreigners were yet to be identified.

 

Italian Foreign Ministry in Rome said among the dead was an Italian national, identifying him as Antonio de Lorenzo.

 

All Italians who were in hotels or other areas attacked in Mumbai have been contacted "except for one or two people," the country's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told a local TV channel.

 

"Some are locked up in their hotel rooms and the situation that they are describing outside is obviously frightening."

 

Japanese national Tsuda, who was working with Mtsui Marubeni Liquefied Gas Co, died at a hospital after being shot in the leg, stomach and chest at the Oberoi Trident hotel, the company's Vice President Hajime Tamaki said in Tokyo.

 

Its another employee, 44, fell and suffered light injuries as he fled the scene, he said, without identifying the injured by name.

 

Among the 60 injured admitted to Bombay hospital, 11 foreigners were from different nationalities, Dr Ashish Tiwari of the hospital said.

 

The injured foreigners are from Australia, USA, Norway, Spain,Canada and Singapore, he said.