[Reader-list] Terror attacks in Mumbai; 16 dead, several injured

[Aditya Raj Kaul]

Terror attacks in Mumbai; 16 dead, several injured

27 Nov 2008, 0000 hrs IST, TIMES NEWS NETWORK & AGENCIES

 MUMBAI: Terror struck the country's financial capital late on Wednesday
night as coordinate serial explosions and indiscriminate firing
 rocked eight areas across Mumbai including the crowded CST railway station,
two five star hotels--Oberoi and Taj-- leaving 16 persons dead and 50
injured. ( Watch
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Armed with AK-47 rifles and grenades, a couple of terrorists entered the
passenger hall of CST and opened fire and threw grenades, Mumbai General
Railway Police Commissioner A K Sharma said.

The terror strike which began at 10:33 PM at Chhatrapathi Shivaji
Terminus(CST), formerly known as the Victoria Terminus(VT), claimed 10 lives
in the premises of the station alone, police said.

Three persons were killed in a bomb explosion in a taxi on Mazegaon dockyard
road and an equal number were gunned down at Taj Hotel. The victims in the
hotel were its employees.

The lobby of the Oberoi hotel was on fire and the hotel evacuated,
eyewitnesses said.

Maharashtra DGP A N Roy said tonight's attack in "at least seven places" is
a "terror strike."

Sharma said 30 persons were injured in the CST incident. Commandoes were
rushed to the CST which wore a deserted look and train services suspended.

Some people were injured in the firing in Oberoi hotel, and taken to a
nearby hospital in police vans and ambulance. Firing was also reported in
Taj hotel.

Firing was reported at Colaba, Nariman Point and near Chhatrapati Shivaji
Terminal, formerly Victoria Terminus and it was still continuing.

Firing was also reported at Cama Hospital in south Mumbai, police said,
adding that a blast was reported in a taxi under a flyover in suburban Vile
Parle. A bomb went off in a taxi in Mazegaon dockyard road.

SRPF personnel then entered the iconic BMC building -- just opposite CST --
to take aim at the assailants, BMC commissioner Jairaj Phatak said. "We fear
some of the assailants are still inside the station and we want to catch
them if they come out," a police official said.

Vikhroli police station senior inspector Habib Ansari was on his way to work
from his Colaba home when he saw two armed men, with sophisticated weaponry,
trying to run into bylanes near the Gateway of India.

"I rushed back to Colaba and all policemen, including GRP and RPF personnel,
were called up," he added.

Bhisham Mansukhani, a journalist, was attending a wedding reception at the
Taj's Crystal Room. "I was inside the bar when glass shards almost hit my
eye," he said. "More than 200 people were escorted inside Chambers, a
business centre inside the hotel," he added.