MUMBAI (Reuters) – At least 80 people were killed in attacks apparently aimed at tourists in India’s financial capital Mumbai, and television channels said Westerners were being held hostage on Thursday at two five-star hotels.
Troops began moving into one of the hotels, the Oberoi, local television said. Explosions were heard there and at the Taj Mahal hotel, where tourists were also said to have been taken hostage, CNN/IBN television reported.
Police said at least 250 people were wounded in the series of Mumbai attacks which, apart from the hotels, targeted hospitals and railway stations as well as the Cafe Leopold, perhaps the most famous restaurant and hang-out for tourists in the city.
An organization calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen claimed it was behind attacks, television channels said. The previously little known group sent an email to news organizations claiming responsibility.
“I guess they were after foreigners, because they were asking for British or American passports,” said Rakesh Patel, a British witness who lives in Hong Kong and was staying at the Taj Mahal hotel on business. “They had bombs.”
“They came from the restaurant and took us up the stairs,” he told the >>>
