Mumbai Terror Attacks: More than 130 Dead and 300 Wounded

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Mumbai Terror Attacks: More than 130 Dead and 300 Wounded by ramesh_lalwani

NowPublic Mumbai Channel

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.

Follow ongoing updates from NowPublic members, consult Mumbai resources and emergency information — and tag your stories, photos and videos "Mumbai" to see them featured here.

Update 9:18pm EST, 7:48AM in Mumbai

Update 07:36 IST Day 2 Mumbai: Mumbai is still fighting back the terrorists, there is an encounter that is continuing in Nariman House with air force helicoptor firing at the terrorists housed inside the building and a similar operation is continuing at the Oberoi Trident where last 1 or 2 terrorist are supposed to be hiding.

Source: my.nowpublic.com

Update 9:15pm EST, 7:45AM in Mumbai

Nariman House Jewish orthodox centre reportedly under siege, full attack by authorities being implemented.

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.

Update 08:08pm EST, 6:34am in Mumbai

Unconfirmed reports indicate that the Oberoi Hotel is still under siege.

OBEROI HOTEL STILL UNDER TERRORIST SIEGE DESPITE EARLIER REPORTS,

Update 6:07pm EST, 4:38am in Mumbai

A final surge appears to be underway to remove the remaining gunmen stationed at the Taj Hotel and in adjacent hotels and a Jewish residential complex.

Recent reports indicate that all hostages previously held at the Taj hotel have been released.

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.

Update 4:20pm EST, 2:40am in Mumbai

Two blasts have been heard where a rabbi and his wife are being held in Nariman house, while reports are showing the Oberoi hotel as been cleared of gunmen. These are still unconfirmed.

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

Update 3:12pm EST, 1:42am in Mumbai

The Taj Mahal Palace & Tower was reportedly finally cleared by the Indian military, however dozens of people remain either in hiding or taken hostage at the Oberoi hotel.

There are a number of people still unaccounted for, mostly foreigners as the terrorists had reportedly been looking for American and British citizens. Six Canadians are among the missing, as well as people from New Zealand, Japan and Korea.

Hostages are still being held at the Jewish community center, although seven hostages have been rescued already:

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.

Update 02:08pm EST, 12:38AM in Mumbai

Latest reports indicate that the death toll has climbed to more than 130, with over 330 people injured.

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

Update 1:56pm EST, 12:26 AM in Mumbai

10-12 gunmen are dug in at three different sites in Mumbai, still fighting after almost 24 hours.

Word is coming from NowPublic member Nehalarya that all hostages at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai have been rescued:

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.

There are rumours that the Indian government wants the #mumbai twitter feeds to be shut down, though this has not been confirmed locals news has stopped broadcasting twitter feeds.

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.

Update 1:45 pm EST, 12:15am in Mumbai

Unconfirmed reports are coming in that the siege at the Taj Mahal hotel has ended and eight hostages have been released from the Jewish Center.

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

At least 100 people are dead and over 250 wounded in one of the worst terrorist attacks in India's history. At least 30 people are still being held hostage while 30 others were rescued from the Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels. Six Canadians are among those being held.

So far the Indian military has said some of the men may have been from Pakistan, though their Defence Minister stated they had no role in the attacks. One of the men captured was from the Islamic militant group Lashkar-e-Toiba.

Story Updates

Story updates can be found in this article throughout the day. Please feel free to add additional information or links in the comments below.

NowPublic is providing ongoing coverage of the attacks in our Mumbai channel.

NowPublic member Ravi Dixit is based in Mumbai and has been doing an amazing job of bringing us coverage since the attacks began over 24 hours ago.

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.

Terrorists have also stormed a Jewish center, where local residents attempted to fight back by throwing stones. Three people were killed in that clash and one wounded.

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.

World Leaders

India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh delivered a speech on television Thursday condemning the terrorist attacks in Mumbai:

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.

Pakistan's President and Prime Minister say they had nothing to do with the attacks and their own country suffers from the same sorts of extremists:

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.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper condemned the attacks as 'despicable and cowardly' and said Canadian authorities were willing to lend aid:

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

British leaders also spoke out against the attacks, saying they were 'outraged'. British PM Gordon Brown spoke to reporters on Thursday:

"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.

Resources

NowPublic Staffer Jordan Yerman posted about how twitter has come out as a major source of information and news:

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.

There is a google map of the attacks here.

Blood donations are needed at hospitals in Mumbai:

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

Schools and colleges have been closed for the day on Thursday, while no announcement has been made towards government workers.

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.