Seven foreigners among 200 taken hostage at Mumbai's Taj

MUMBAI: Two terrorists carrying guns tonight took 15 people, half of them foreigners, hostage on the roof of the luxury Taj Hotel, one of the hostages who managed to escape said. Two youths in their 20s came to the restaurant of the hotel and took 15 people to the roof of the hotel, Rakesh Patel, a businessman from London who lives in Hong Kong, told a TV channel giving the first eyewitness account of what happened in the five-star hotel in South Mumbai. "The two young boys came to the restaurant and took us upstairs. We were taken to the 18th floor from where we escaped", he said. Replying to a question, Patel said the terrorists wanted to know if any one of the hostages was carrying American and British passports. They clearly wanted foreigners, he added.

200 people stuck in hall:

About 200 people were tonight holed up inside a hall in the Taj Hotel as they were advised by the hotel staff not to go out because of the attack by terrorists. They are holed up in the hall in the old wing of the hotel since 9.30 PM, when terrorists struck. Krishna Das, MP, 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.

Comments

India's swine flu death rate is increasing

Friday, August 14, 2009 MUMBAI: A 26-year-old woman died Thursday of H1N1 swine flu in the southern city of Bangalore, raising India's death toll from the virus to 20, authorities said.The death was the first reported in India's information technology capital, the Press Trust of India reported.Meanwhile in Pune, the worst-affected in India, two more victims of the virus died Thursday, raising the death toll in that western city near Mumbai to 12, the report said. The victims were an 11-month-old boy and a 75-year-old old woman.US media reported movie halls, schools and colleges were ordered closed Thursday for three days to a week in Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of the country, as fear of the pandemic spread.Prajakata Lavangare, a spokeswoman for the government of Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital, said similar orders were issued in Pune, which is also located in the state.The woman who died in Bangalore was identified only as Roopa, a teacher in...

Tennis: Clijsters wins US Open, second time

NEW YORK: Kim Clijsters of Belgium won the US Open on Sunday by defeating Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 7-5, 6-3 in the final.She is the first mother to win a Grand Slam title since Evonne Goolagong in 1980, the victory coming just five weeks after she returned to the sport following a 27-month retirement. She was the first wildcard, man or woman, to win a US Open title in the history of the tournament.

42 killed in wave of Iraq bombings

BAGHDAD: At least 42 people were killed and nearly 100 wounded in a spate of bomb attacks near the restive northern Iraqi city of Mosul and in the capital Baghdad on Monday, police said. In the deadliest single attack, two booby-trapped lorries exploded before dawn in the village of Khaznah, east of Mosul, leaving 25 people dead and 70 others wounded. Thirty-five houses were destroyed in the village, which is home to members of the tiny Shabak community, a sect of Kurdish origin. In Baghdad, two car bombs went off as day labourers were gathering in the early morning hours looking for jobs.The first bomb exploded at Hay al-Amel, in the west of the capital, killing nine people and injuring 46. The second bomb attack in Shurta Arbaa in the north of the city killed seven people and wounded 35 others.

ONE NEWS

Search This Blog