Mumbai Shootings, Grenade Attacks Kill at Least 60 (Update3)

Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Grenade and gun attacks erupted today across Mumbai, India’s financial capital, killing 60 and injuring at least 200, the Press Trust of India said. Shots were reported near luxury hotels and one of the city’s main rail stations.

As many as 15 people may have been taken hostage at the luxury Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, the news agency said. Press Trust of India said. There was no word on hostages at other hotels attacked, Times TV said.

The Times of India newspaper, quoting unidentified hospital sources, said the death toll could reach 80, with 250 hurt. Press Trust of India said there were 60 dead and 200 injured at St. George’s Hospital in south Mumbai. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Hundreds of police ringed the Taj, Trident and Oberoi hotels and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in the south of the city, NDTV reported.

“Some terrorist incidents are happening, some grenades were lobbed,” A.N. Roy, director general of police for Maharashtra state, said in a telephone interview. “Give us some time to get a clearer picture.”

Police said the two attackers at the Oberoi had escaped, and two suspected terrorists were subsequently killed when driving away from the direction of the Oberoi, Times TV reported. Police didn’t say whether the two men were the Oberoi attackers, it reported.

Times TV also reported a blast at the rooftop of the Taj hotel, located near the Gateway of India in the Colaba area.

Railway Terminus

Shootings took place at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, formerly known as Victoria Terminus, CNN-IBN television said. There were reports of explosions and continued firing, the channel said. Shootings also occurred outside Café Leopold and at the Taj Mahal hotel, both in the Colaba tourist area of south Mumbai, CNN-IBN reported.

“We are all fine and safe within the hotel,” said a Taj employee who answered the telephone at the hotel. “I can’t say anything more since we are still collecting information, and are all busy.”

Multiple attacks have rocked India’s cities this year with bombs planted in markets, theaters and near mosques. While previous attacks have been blamed on foreign terrorists, police arrested members of the Indian Mujahadeen, a militant Islamic group, after a shootout in Delhi in September.

Broken Windows

The two attackers at the Trident had entered one of the hotel restaurants and said they were looking for U.S. and British nationals, the channel said. They had taken about 15 people hostage, an eyewitness told Times TV.

The U.S. State Department said it wasn’t aware of any American casualties in the attacks “at this point.”

“We strongly condemn the terrorist attacks that have taken place in Mumbai, India,” said Robert Wood, a spokesman for the department. “We are monitoring the situation very closely and stand ready to support the Indian authorities as they deal with this horrific series of attacks.”

Mumbai is an international financial hub, and the location of the attacks caused concern that tourists and visiting business people, as well as residents, may be among the casualties.

Unilever Chief Executive Officer Patrick Cescau, who is visiting the city, ‘is safe,” Gerbert van Genderen Stort, a Rotterdam-based company spokesman, said in an e-mailed statement to Bloomberg News. Cescau runs the world’s second-largest consumer-products maker.

Taxi Blasts

There was an explosion near a junction in Vile Parle, near the airport, Times TV said. The remains of a taxicab were strewn at the blast site, television pictures showed. Another explosion in a taxi was reported at Mazgaon dockyard road, PTI said.

The government has previously blamed terrorist attacks on organizations linked to foreign powers, without offering evidence or making arrests. Local media often blame the attacks on groups backed by Pakistan or Bangladesh, without identifying the security officials who provided the information.

The capital New Delhi was rocked by five blasts during an evening rush hour in September, killing as many as 26 people and injuring about 133. Police defused two bombs in the Connaught Place area and one near India Gate. Indian Mujahadeen, which claimed responsibility for similar attacks in Ahmedabad and Jaipur, said it was behind the blasts.

Police killed two suspected terrorists Sept. 19 in a gun battle in the Jamia Nagar area and arrested five people in connection with the blasts. Three of the arrested men belong to Indian Mujahadeen, police said.

Sixteen bombs exploded in Ahmedabad within 20 minutes late on July 26, a day after seven bombs tore through India’s technology hub of Bangalore, killing two. At least 20 devices hidden in cars and garbage cans were discovered and defused in the Gujarat city of Surat, days after the Ahmedabad blasts.



Source: bloomberg.com