Mumbai Terror Attacks: More than 130 Dead and 300 Wounded

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A coordinated series of attacks took place across Mumbai on November 26, 2008 - in the crowded Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station; two five-star hotels, the Oberoi Trident and Taj Mahal Palace & Tower; Leopold's, a popular tourist restaurant; and the police headquarters in South Mumbai.

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As NSG commandos closed in on Nariman House, a Jewish residential complex in Colaba in south Mumbai, for a final assault, two explosions within a span of ten to 15 minutes slowed down their operation. A third explosion was heard at 4.47 am.

"The operation to clean up the Nariman House is still going on," Director General of National Security Guard (NSG) J K Dutt told reporters adding "it is just a matter of time and it will end soon".

Dutt said the operations at Hotel Taj was by and large over with just one injured terrorist still holed-up in the building. "He has been injured and I think we will be able to mop up the operation there very quickly," he said.

OBEROI HOTEL STILL UNDER TERRORIST SIEGE DESPITE EARLIER REPORTS,

Commandos killed at least three gunmen at the Taj Intercontinental Hotel late on Thursday and were sweeping another luxury hotel and a Jewish residential complex in search of hostages and trapped people a day after terrorists stormed targets across southern Mumbai, leaving 125 people dead.

Occasional bursts of gunfire and explosions were heard from the Taj and the nearby Hotel-Trident Oberoi as commandos from the National Security Guard (NSG) threw a ring around the two places and the Nariman Bhavan, a Jewish residential complex, to isolate a small number of gunmen holding hostages, foreigners included.

At last three terrorists were killed at the Taj and one is still holding out, new agencies reported. "There is one terrorist in the Taj (hotel). He has been injured and I think we will be able to mop up the operation there very quickly," said J K Dutt, Director General of the elite National Security Guards commandos.

"There is one terrorist in the Taj (hotel). He has been injured and I think we will be able to mop up the operation there very quickly," Director General of National Security Guard (NSG) J K Dutt said.

The injured terrorist has not yet been captured but "we will be able to do so soon". Three suspected terrorists, including a Pakistani national, were arrested from the Taj hotel late Thursday night.

All hostages have been freed from the Taj hotel, one of the first of 10 targets of the terrorists.

Union Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal told CNN-IBN earlier that terrorists had set up control centres inside the two hotels and the operation to flush them out would be over soon. Government sources say security forces are now preparing for a final assault on the Oberoi and Nariman Bhavan.

At Nariman House: Two fresh blasts heard
At Taj: Operation may go on till morning
At Trident: 39 hostages safely rescued
One injured terrorist inside Taj: NSG chief
At least 2 terrorists still inside Trident Hotel

Seven hostages have been rescued from a Mumbai residential-business complex, also housing a Jewish centre, which was attacked by Islamic gunmen, Indian security officials said late Thursday.

The nationalities of those freed was not given, although some foreigners were seen being led away to safety by police, an AFP photographer at the scene said.

At least six Canadians are unaccounted for at one of the two hotels in Mumbai that were targeted in a series of attacks across India's financial capital that left dozens dead, a government source has told CBC News.

The source said it's unclear whether the Canadians are being held hostage or are hiding somewhere in the hotel, which he did not identify.

Concerns are held for two New Zealanders who remain holed up in the Oberoi Hotel in besieged Mumbai , Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully says.

The death toll from the Mumbai terrorist attacks has risen to at least 131 with 330+ reported injured.

And after a gun battle of more than 24 hours, at around 11.35 PM on 27th Nov,  ""All hostages at Taj Hotel in Mumbai have been rescued, but there could be some still trapped at Trident hotel and Nariman House where operations were on to flush out terrorists, Maharashtra police chief A N Roy said on Thursday, ruling out any negotiations with the terrorists."

Some 10-12 gunmen were holed up at three sites in Mumbai nearly 24 hours after a series of devastating attacks in the city, an Indian general said.

Maj Gen RK Hooda said police were evacuating people from rooms in one hotel targeted, but that gunmen did not appear to be holding hostages there.

Twitter feeds have been blasting away with dozens of updates every single minute. These were used by many of the networks to show streaming news on their news channels on TV. 

Twitter users were asking people to stop sending updates and there were rumours that the Government and/or the Military had asked the twitter channel #mumbai be shut down.

The numbers of casualties involved are quite staggering; 325 injured, six of them Britons, some of them seriously ill in hospital here.

Update from Taj Mahal Hotel: 22:08 NSG has finally claimed that all the terrorists inside the hotel have been neutralised and the hotel has been finally reclaimed.

Residents tried to protect the centre, clashing with the gunmen and throwing rocks at them in an effort to drive the militants away, said Puran Doshi, a local businessman who lives nearby.

The crowd eventually retreated under fire from the gunmen, who wounded one man, killed three others and threw several hand grenades, he said. Police could not immediately confirm his account.

In his address, Singh spoke directly to the terrorists.

"Such attacks on us will not be tolerated," Singh said, adding a number of measures will be taken to "strengthen the hands of police and intelligence officials."

Singh vowed the persons involved would be brought to justice.

They will "pay a heavy price for these acts against our country," Singh said.

In their separate messages, Zardari and Gilani deplored the tragic incident, which resulted in the killing of more than 100 people, according to the official Associated Press of Pakistan.

He says Canada stands with India in its fight against terror and supports efforts to punish those behind the attacks.

"I think I speak for the whole world, shock and outrage at the tragic destruction of innocent lives. I have already sent my sympathy and support to Prime Minister Singh of India and to say we will do everything we can to help the Indian government," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told reporters.

As the dust starts to settle, the analysis begins. As with other major news incidents in the recent past, Twitter featured heavily in the coverage of the Mumbai terror attacks.

Blood Donors are needed at the Government Hospitals that are treating the hundreds of injured.

JJ Hospital 022-23739400

St George Hospital -022?22620344

Bombay Hospital 22067676 extn216

In another couple of hours the city would come back to life as another Thursday dawns. However this Thursday is like no other the city has ever seen.

Schools, colleges, and other establishments are closed for the day, as announced by the Government.

There is no news if other government institutions will follow suit.

Mumbai - Essential Telephone Numbers

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Mumbai: Sortable List of Dead & Injured

Google Doc spreadsheet listing names of dead and injured people in Mumbai.