At least 100 people are believed to be trapped and probably held hostage by terrorists in two five- star hotels in Mumbai, the Taj Intercontinental and Trident (formerly Oberoi) hotels, some of them are foreigners, the NDTV reported Thursday.
More than 100 people have been killed and hundreds injured in a series of terrorist attacks in Mumbai at 10 places including hotels, hospitals and train stations since Wednesday evening.
At least 12 policemen have been killed across the city, including the head of the Maharashtra state's Anti-Terror Squad Hemant Karkare, who was shot three times in the chest. Mumbai is the capital city of the state.
Five terrorists have been killed and nine arrested inside the Taj hotel and 3-4 of them are still holed up, the report said.
Several staff members at the hotels have been killed, including two at Trident. Gunshots continued to be heard, the TV pictures showed.
Maharashtra's Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has said that Taj and Trident are still not under control.
"Encounter is on between police and terrorists at Taj and Trident. Our people have surrounded them and the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) team has arrived at the Taj hotel," a police official said.
Army was called in to bring the situation under control and restore the sense of security in the city that was literally shaken the attacks, one of the worst in the country.
(Xinhua News Agency November 27, 2008)
