Click to play videoMumbai: Army and police commandos are engaged in fierce gunbattle with small groups of terrorists who have taken many people hostages at the Taj Intercontinental Hotel, Oberoi Hotel and the Cama Hospital.
According to the latest reports police have succeeded in flushing out terrorists from the Cama Hospital.
At the Taj Intercontinental Hotel police have managed to kill at least five terrorists who had taken take several people hostage. Nine terrorists have been captured. The hotel is on fire and over 50 people have been rescued.
Terrorists have also taken hostages in Oberoi Hotel. Army, Navy commandos and the Rapid Action Force have been called in and are engaged in fierce gunbattle to rescue the hostages. At the Oberoi Hotel terrorist are holed up on the 19th floor and have taken five foreigners hostage.
Some terrorists have feld in two vehicles. They have taken a jeep (registration no: MH01-ZA102) belonging to Maharashtra government and a police Qualis (registration no: MH01-BA5179).
Police have asked the public that if anyone knows the whereabouts of the two vehicles, then the information can be given on Ph No. 100 or 022-24937755, 24937747.
Earlier, small groups of terrorists launched coordinated attacks on at least 10 Mumbai landmarks on Wednesday evening. The terrorists started firing indiscriminately and blasted their way through Taj and Oberoi hotels, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and Cama Hospital.
At least 101 people have been killed and 280 injured in what is one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
Grenades were also used in the attacks. According to police the first attack took place outside the Taj Hotel between 2215 hrs IST and 2230 hrs IST, where terrorists opened fire at police and paramilitary forces.
National Security Guards commandos are on their way to Mumbai from Delhi.
Some foreign tourists have also been held as hostage at the Oberoi.
There was firing at Ramada Hotel in Juhu too. At least 11 police officers including Additional Commissioner Ashok Kamte, Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare and Vijay Saluskar have been killed in encounters with terrorists.
Karkare died in an encounter near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Station.
According to the police, the first shooting took place near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Station and near Cafe Leopold in Colaba.
Two suspected terrorists have also been killed in Girgaum.
Meanwhile, police have recovered a boat laden with explosives found near Gateway of India.
A little known group Deccan Mujahiddin has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Police have advised people to stay indoors.
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Earlier in the night, terrorists opened fire at police and paramilitary forces outside the Taj Hotel between 2215 hrs IST and 2230 hrs IST, police officials said.
The officials, who refused to speak on record, said the terrorists fired indiscriminately near the five-star hotel where around 2,000 guests and staff were stranded.
The body of a foreign woman guest was recovered from the Hotel and two terrorists were holed up inside the building, a police official said.
At least 90 per cent portion of the building was plunged into darkness as authorities cut off power in a precautionary measure.
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Member of Parliament, Krishna Das, who was among those held up, said they had been advised not to move out of the hall till the police clears the place of terrorists.
He was having dinner with some friends in a restaurant of the hotel when he heard gunshots. The guests ducked under the table from where they had fleeting glimpse of terrorists who were firing indiscriminately.
At least 10 top business executives are also stuck on another floor of the hotel.
Conservative Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Sajjad Karim, who was one of two MEPs caught up in the terror attacks in Mumbai, reportedly escaped from the Taj Hotel but his whereabouts are not known.
The other MEP involved in the attacks was Erika Mann, a German Socialist. Karim and Mann were part of a delegation of European parliamentarians from the trade committee staying in the Mumbai hotel for meetings ahead of an EU/India summit.
Thirty-eight-year-old Karim spoke to Sky News of his ordeal and attempts to hide from the assassins in the basement of the hotel until his mobile phone battery ran out.
Mann was reportedly hiding in the hotel's kitchensfrom where she told a concerned colleague who called her on her mobile: "It is too dangerous to talk."
Speaking to Sky News by mobile phone, Karim said that he and others had fled from machine-gun fire and had no idea why the hotel was targeted.
"I was in the lobby of the hotel when gunmen came in and people started running. There were about 25 or 30 of us. A gunman just stood there spraying bullets around, right next to me.
"I managed to turn away and I ran into the hotel kitchen and then we were shunted into a restaurant in the basement. We are now in the dark in this room and we have barricaded all the doors. It's really bad."
Karim told the television channel: "There was a lot of commotion in the main lobby, and then another gunman came right in front of us and started shooting. I saw a number of people go down, but I was fortunate enough to get away."
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