Scores dead in Mumbai shootings
2008-11-26 22:51
Mumbai - Top police officials said on Wednesday that at least 80 people were killed and 250 injured when gunmen opened fire on a crowded Mumbai train station, luxury hotels and a restaurant popular with tourists.
Johnny Joseph, chief secretary for Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital, says the death toll could rise further.
The gunmen attacked the crowded Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus station in southern Mumbai and Leopold's restaurant, a Mumbai landmark, along with the Oberoi and Taj Mahal hotels, two of the city's best know luxury hotels.
AN Roy, police commissioner of Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital, said several people had been wounded in the attacks and police were battling the gunmen.
"The terrorists have used automatic weapons and in some places grenades have been lobbed," said Roy.
It was not immediately clear what the motive was for the attacks.
Blood stains on the floor
"It was really scary. It was like the sound of loud crackers, not one but several, we just ran out of there," said Janice Sequeira, a tourist who had been at a restaurant in the Taj Mahal Hotel.
At the Oberoi, police officer PI 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 AK Sharma as saying that several men armed with rifles and grenades were holed up 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 GT Hospital near the shootings, said hospital official Yogesh Pandey.
- AP