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Wed Nov 26 22:23:51 GMT 2008

DEVELOPING: The Indian army reportedly is closing in on two luxury hotels where dozens of people were being held hostage in Mumbai, India, after attacks by terrorist gunmen who, eyewitnesses said, appeared to be targeting Americans and Britons.

The terrorists also targeted a popular tourist attraction and a crowded train station, killing at least 78 and injuring 200, police and witnesses said.

An organization calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen claimed it was behind attacks in the nation's financial capitals, which began late Wednesday night. Nine suspected terrorists had been caught, India's NMTV reported, and two were killed.

Click here for photos. <http://www.foxnews.com/photoessay/0,4644,5798,00.html> 

There were reports of new attacks on one hotel, the Trident, and gunfire at another, the JW Marriott. The Army was moving into the Oberoli hotel, according to local television reports.

Police were battling the gunmen, Maharashtra Police Commissioner A.N Roy said.

"The terrorists have used automatic weapons and in some places grenades have been lobbed," Roy said.

Related

*	

	Stories

	*	Raw Data: Recent Attacks on Americans or American Interests in India <https://mail.medprodoctors.com/story/0,2933,457965,00.html> 

	Video

	*	Mumbai Terror Attack <https://mail.medprodoctors.com/Exchange/Marc_Matthews/Drafts/RE:%20India.EML/1_text.htm#> 
	*	40 Held Hostage in Mumbai <https://mail.medprodoctors.com/Exchange/Marc_Matthews/Drafts/RE:%20India.EML/1_text.htm#> 
	*	Recent Attacks on Americans or American Interests in India <https://mail.medprodoctors.com/story/0,2933,457965,00.html> 

FOX FORUM: MUMBAI TERROR ATTACKS: A 'Planned' Operation Designed to Create Chaos <http://foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/11/26/phares_mumbai_11262/> 

The White House <https://mail.medprodoctors.com/Exchange/Marc_Matthews/Drafts/RE:%20India.EML/1_text.htm#>  condemned the attacks, though the State Department said it couldn't confirm any U.S. casualties.

"Our sympathies go out to the families and friends of those killed and injured, and to the people of Mumbai," said Robert A. Wood, a deputy spokesman at the State Department <https://mail.medprodoctors.com/Exchange/Marc_Matthews/Drafts/RE:%20India.EML/1_text.htm#> . "We are monitoring the situation very closely and stand ready to support the Indian authorities as they deal with this horrific series of attacks. At this point, we are unaware of any American casualties."

Some of the gunmen are still holed up in buildings, a police official told Reuters.

Several European lawmakers were among those inside the hotel.

Sajjad Karim told Britain's Press Association news agency that he and several other lawmakers were barricaded inside the Taj Mahal Hotel.

"I was in the lobby of the hotel when gunmen came in and people started running," he told the Press Association by phone from the basement of the hotel.

"A gunman just stood there spraying bullets around, right next to me," he said. "I managed to turn away and I ran into the hotel kitchen."

Karim was part of a delegation of European lawmakers visiting Mumbai ahead of an upcoming EU-India summit.

Gunmen opened fire on two of the city's best-known luxury hotels, the Taj Mahal and the Oberoi. They also attacked the crowded Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus station in southern Mumbai and Leopold's restaurant, a Mumbai landmark.

"People started running out," an eyewitness said. "The crowd came out of the station: I saw people limping and coming out. I said 'Run.' We ran and I said, finally I said, 'Run' and one person got hit by bullet and fell down and I got hit on the neck and went to the hospital and I just came from there "

It was not immediately clear what the motive was for the attacks.

"It was really scary," said Janice Sequeira, a tourist who had been at a restaurant in the Taj Mahal Hotel. "It was like the sound of loud crackers, not one but several, we just ran out of there."

At the Oberoi, police officer P.I. Patil said shots had been fired inside and the hotel had been cordoned off. He would not give any other details.

The Press Trust of India news agency quoted Mumbai General Railway Police Commissioner A.K. Sharma as saying that several men armed with rifles and grenades were still in the train station.

Leopold's restaurant was riddled with bullet holes and there were blood stains on the floor and shoes left by fleeing customers, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene.

At least 25 people had been brought to the G.T. Hospital near the shootings, said hospital official Yogesh Pandey.

The Associated Press, Reuters and Sky News contributed to this report.

________________________________

From: trauma-list-bounces at trauma.org on behalf of Marc Matthews - MedPro MMC X
Sent: Wed 11/26/2008 3:13 PM
To: trauma-list at trauma.org
Subject: India

To all of the people of India and the healthcare providers in Delhi,

My heartfelt condolences over these horrible terrorist attacks. Such great sorrow and pain.

I am so very saddened over these images. The death toll has reached 90 per cable news

Is there anyone that can tell us any information from the trauma frontlines?

Blessings to all and a special prayer to all,

Marc R. Matthews, MD
Phoenix, AZ
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