The Hindu : Front Page : Endgame in Mumbai, death toll could be 200

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Nov 29, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Front Page

Front Page

Endgame in Mumbai, death toll could be 200

Mumbai Bureau

Fighting continues, Jewish centre witnesses carnage; 200 people rescued from Trident and Oberoi hotels

— Photo: AP

STORMING OPERATION: Commandos of the National Security Guards rappel down on to the roof of Nariman House in Mumbai on Friday.

MUMBAI: Even as the special forces and the police succeeded in freeing 200 people who were holed up inside the Oberoi and Trident Hotels for the third day, four Israeli and United States nationals held hostage in a south Mumbai Jewish religious centre were found dead when commandos stormed the building late on Friday evening.

A National Security Guards officer in the rank of a Major, who was not officially identified, gave his life in the attempt to rescue the four hostages held by terrorists at the Chabad-Lukovich religious centre in Nariman House in the Colaba area. The two terrorists who had taken over the centre were also killed.

NSG commandos had engaged in periodic exchanges of fire through Thursday in the course of efforts to rescue the Nariman House hostages. Early this morning, the NSG used a helicopter to lower commandos on to the roof of Nariman House. Several explosions were heard soon afterwards.

In the evening, the NSG, backed by specialists from the Indian Army’s Engineers Regiment, blew several holes in the building’s walls in an attempt to facilitate access into the premises.

When the NSG entered the building, though, they discovered the bodies of the terrorists and the hostages lying on the second, third and fourth floors of the five-storey building.

The dead hostages were officially identified as Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, the head of the Chabad-Lukovich centre, and his Israeli wife Rivka Holtzberg. Sandra Samuel, a Mumbai resident who worked as a cook for the Holtzenberg family, had helped their child, Zvi Moshe, escape the building soon after the terrorist attack began.

Earlier, NSG commandos succeeded in eliminating two suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists who had taken positions inside the Oberoi Hotel and Trident Hotel in the Nariman Point area. The NSG operation opened the way for the rescue of upwards of 200 guests and visitors who were trapped in the adjoining hotels during the fighting. Mumbai Police officials said the survivors included nationals of over 20 countries.

The police recovered the bodies of 24 people killed in the fighting, most of whom are thought to have died when terrorists burst into the building firing from assault rifles and lobbing grenades.

Six other bodies were recovered from the buildings earlier. NSG officials said two assault rifles, a pistol and several unexploded grenades were recovered from the two terrorists killed during the fighting. Around midnight, the NSG was still engaged in sanitising the building and conducting checks for hidden explosives.

Maharashtra Director-General of Police A.N. Roy said 155 civilians have so far died in the terror attacks which began on Friday. Another 318 people have been injured. However, speaking to journalists in the evening, Union Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal said the final death toll could go up to 200.

Fighting on at Taj

- PHOTO: AP

END OF ORDEAL: Italian chef Emanuele Lattanzi and daughter emerging from the Oberoi Trident after their rescue on Friday.

There was no word on fatalities from the Taj Mahal Hotel, where fighting continued to flare periodically through Friday. A city journalist and a bystander were injured when a terrorist opened fire on crowds who had assembled in the Gateway of India plaza, adjoining the hotel, defying police instructions to maintain a safe distance from the building.

NSG officials said one of the two terrorists holed up in the Taj Mahal Hotel, who was believed to have been injured earlier in fighting, was killed. The other terrorist, an NSG source said, was moving constantly up and down the higher floors of the Taj Mahal Hotel’s new building.

An NSG officer gave his life in the fighting. There was no official word, though, on fatalities inside the Taj. NSG Director-General J.K. Dutt said the “stage had been set for the final phase of the operation.”

Nine terrorists have so far been killed in fighting, while one — Pakistani national Ajmal Amir Kamal — has been arrested.

World leaders call up

PTI reports from New Delhi:

A number of world leaders, including British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, called up Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday to express their solidarity with India in the wake of the terror attacks. Other leaders who called included Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Mauritian Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam. Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani talked to the Prime Minister.

A number of leaders including Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa called up External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee. The callers included French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Omanese Foreign Minister Yousuf Bin Abdullah, Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith, and Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon.

Correction and Clarification:

The tenth paragraph of a report "Endgame in Mumbai, death toll could be 200" (November 29, 2008, page 1) was "Maharashtra Director-General of Police A.N. Roy said 155 civilians have so far died in the terror attacks which began on Friday." It should have been Wednesday.

Mumbai terror attacks in pictures

Mumbai terror attacks in pictures - 2

Mumbai terror attacks in pictures - 3

Ratan Tata’s press meet - Podcast

An affront to the Indian state: Editorial

Three Lashkar fidayeen captured

Symbols of inhumanity will be pursued: Congress

“Full-scale war, let’s stay united”

Political India responds unitedly

We must rebuild what was destroyed: Ratan Tata

Earlier terror strikes in Mumbai

Terror strikes Mumbai, over 147 killed