Chaos and death on the streets of Mumbai

Fighting continued today in the middle of Mumbai as chaos and confusion surrounded terrorist attacks that killed more than 100 people.

Mixed messages from police and soldiers initially said the crisis was over, but later reports said hostages were still being held at one luxury hotel which was among the targets in the Indian port.

More than 300 were wounded in the highly co-ordinated attacks launched yesterday by gunmen who invaded two five star hotels, a popular restaurant, a crowded train station, a Jewish centre and other sites, armed with assault rifles, grenades and explosives.

A previously unknown Islamic militant group claimed responsibility for the massacre, the latest in a series of nationwide terror attacks over the past three years that have dented India’s image as an industrious nation galloping toward prosperity.

Among the dead were at least one Briton, an Australian, an Italian and a Japanese .

A state government spokesman said 101 people were killed and 314 injured. Eight militants were also killed.

The most high-profile target was the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel, a landmark of Mumbai luxury since 1903, and a favourite of the city’s elite.

The attackers, dressed in black shirts and jeans, stormed into the hotel at about 9.45 pm local time and opened fire indiscriminately.

The shooting was followed by a series of explosions that set fire to parts of the century-old edifice on Mumbai’s waterfront. Screams were heard and black smoke and flames billowed, continuing to burn until dawn.

The gunmen also seized the Mumbai headquarters of the ultra-orthodox Jewish outreach group Chabad Lubavitch and attacked the Oberoi Hotel, another five-star landmark.

The gunmen appeared to be still inside all three buildings today, nearly 18 hours later, holding foreign and local hostages, as Indian commandos surrounded the buildings.

Among those held captive were Americans, British, Italians, Swedes, Canadians, Yemenis, New Zealanders, Spaniards, Turks, a Singaporean and Israelis.

Police loudspeakers declared a curfew around the Taj Mahal hotel, and black-clad commandos

ran into the building as fresh gunshots rang out from the area.

Soldiers outside the hotel said the operation would take a long time as forces were moving slowly, from room to room, looking for gunmen and traps. Every body found had to be checked by sniffer dogs, said one senior officer.

Some bodies and hostages slowly emerged from the building.

About a dozen hostages including foreigners were also evacuated from the hotel and put in a waiting ambulance.

At the nearby Oberoi hotel, soldiers could be seen on the roof of neighbouring buildings. A banner hung out of one window read “save us.”

At least three top Indian police officers – including the chief of the anti-terror squad – were among those killed, said and A.N. Roy, a senior police official.

The attackers appeared to have been targeting Britons and Americans.

The motive was not immediately clear, but Mumbai has frequently been targeted in terrorist attacks blamed on Islamic extremists, including a series of bombings in July 2006 that killed 187 people.

Later the Indian navy said its was boarding a cargo ship suspected of ties to the attacks.

A spokesman said that the MV Alpha, had recently come to Mumbai from Karachi, Pakistan.

The navy has “located the ship and now we are in the process of boarding it and searching it,” he said.

Black and yellow rubber dinghies have been found by the shore, apparently used by the gunmen to reach the area.

Mumbai, on the western coast of India overlooking the Arabian Sea, is home to splendid Victorian architecture built during the British Raj and is one of the most populated cities in the world with some 18 million crammed into shantytowns, high rises and crumbling mansions.

Among the other places attacked was the 19th century Chatrapati Shivaji railroad station – a beautiful example of Victorian Gothic architecture – where gunmen sprayed bullets into the crowded terminal, leaving the floor splattered with blood.

Other gunmen attacked Leopold’s restaurant, a landmark popular with foreigners, and the police headquarters in southern Mumbai, the area where most of the attacks took place. Gunmen also attacked Cama and Albless Hospital and G.T. Hospital.

India has been racked by bomb attacks the past three years, which police blame on Muslim militants intent on destabilising the country. Nearly 700 people have died.