At least 80 people were killed and 250 wounded tonight in a series of grenade and gun attacks by terrorist gunmen at seven sites in India's financial hub Mumbai, including two luxury hotels.
There were up to seven shootings reported in various locations across the city including the Taj and Oberoi luxury hotels, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus station in southern Mumbai and the Cafe Leopold restaurant, a Mumbai landmark. Gunmen also attacked police headquarters in south Mumbai.
Troops began moving into one of the hotels, the Oberoi, local television said. Explosions were heard there and at the Taj Mahal hotel, where tourists were also said to have been taken hostage, CNN/IBN television reported.
"We have reports of 80 people dead and at least 250 injured. Many have serious injuries and the toll will go up," P.D. Ghadge, a police officer in the main control room in Mumbai, said.
Maharashtra state police chief A.N. Roy said attackers had fired automatic weapons indiscriminately, and used grenades, adding that they were still holed up in some buildings.
Hemant Karkare, chief of the police anti-terrorist squad in Mumbai, was killed during the attacks, Indian television channels reported.
An organisation calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen claimed it was behind attacks, television channels said. The previously little known group sent an email to news organisations claiming responsibility.
A witness told Indian television that gunmen looked for British and US passport holders.
"They wanted anyone with British or American passports," a witness at the Taj Hotel, who said he was from London and was in India on business, told the NDTV news channel. "They wanted foreigners."
Several European MEPs were among those barricaded inside the Taj, a century-old seaside hotel complex and one of the city’s best-known destinations. The MEPs were part of a delegation visiting Mumbai ahead of a forthcoming EU-India summit. At least one of the MEPs was inujured.
"My hotel is surrounded by police and there are gunmen inside," Spanish MEP Ignasi Guardans told Spanish radio from the Taj. "We are in contact with some deputies inside the hotel, with one in a room and another hidden in the kitchen. There's another official hurt and in hospital."
There were reports of an explosion near the city’s domestic airport and attacks on at least one Mumbai hospital.
British prime minister Gordon Brown tonight described the attacks as “outrageous” and said they would be met with a “vigorous response”, while the White House also condemned them.
France, current president of the European Union, also condemned the attacks and hostage-takings.
Mumbai, known as the financial capital of India, has been among the major cities targeted in violence across the country in recent years.
On July 11th, 2006 there was a series of explosions on commuter trains in western Mumbai, leaving more than 180 people dead and hundreds injured.
On October 30th, 11 bombs exploded in Assam where a 30-year insurgency campaign by an ultranationalist group is taking place, killing 77 people and injuring more than 300.