Gift Nwaneri
28 November 2008
Lagos — FOUR Nigerians were among 327 lucky survivors of terrorist attacks yesterday which rocked the Indian city of Mumbai killing at least o125 people.
In a reaction, Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Sigh said the attacks were masterminded by those based outside the country.
But the four Nigerians on a visit to Mumbai, who were rescued by Indian security agents, the Indian High Commissioner in Nigeria, Mr. Makesh Sachdev, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
A total of 125 persons have so far been reported dead, while more than 327 were seriously injured in the blast believed to have arisen as a result of a clash between Hindus and Muslims in the city.
Meanwhile police attacked gunmen in three locations yesterday to free hostages.
Two of the hostages freed after police stormed the Oberoi Hotel in Mumbai.
Agency reports said regular gun fire and blasts could be heard the Oberoi and Taj Mahal hotels and a Jewish center in the city.
Late in the day police had some success, with 10 hostages reportedly freed from the Oberoi.
Maharashtra official Bhushan Gagrani said the Taj situation was "almost sorted out" and that police expected to clear the Oberoi by tonight. Hostages remained, but he didn't say how many.
Meanwhile, Singh suggested the group behind the attacks was based outside India and probably had "external linkages."
"It is evident that the group which carried out these attacks, based outside the country, had come with single-minded determination to create havoc in the financial capital of the country," he said.
The death toll from the series of coordinated attacks was at 125, including at least six foreigners, by Thursday evening authorities said. An Italian and Briton were among the confirmed dead.
Another 327 people were wounded in the attacks, including seven British, three American and two Australian citizens.
In addition, at least nine gunmen were killed in fighting with police. Police sources as said they believed there were around 26 gunmen, most of them young.
Also among the dead was Hemant Karkare, the chief of the Mumbai police's anti-terror squad, and as many as 11 police officers.
Authorities found 8 kilograms (17 pounds) of RDX, one of the most powerful kinds of military explosives, at a restaurant near the Taj, indicating that the attackers may have been planning more violence.
Gunmen also remained holed up in a building called Chabad House, where several Jewish families live. Rabbi Gabriel Holtzberg, the city's envoy for the community, was being held inside with his wife, a member of the Hasidic Jewish movement said. The couple's 18-month-old baby was released unharmed.
Two women and an infant were seen escaping from the building but three to four residents remained captive inside, an Indian official said.
Police said gunmen fired indiscriminately from the building. Stray bullets killed a couple in their home and a 16-year-old boy who stepped outside, police said.
Police surrounded the building and exchanged gunfire in which one of the gunmen reportedly was shot, CNN-IBN said.
A standoff at a fourth location -- the Cama Hospital for women and infants -- appeared to have been resolved by Thursday morning, CNN-IBN reported. It was not immediately known whether gunmen at the hospital fled or were killed.
Authorities locked down Mumbai and asked residents to stay inside. The stock market in the city -- India's financial hub -- was closed, as were schools and colleges. The city is also home to Bollywood, the Hindi-language film industry.
Government officials said the attacks caught them completely unaware.
Police say the attackers came by boats to the waterfront near the Gateway of India monument.
Of the nine suspects arrested in connection with the attacks, seven are fishermen. Police also found a boat loaded with explosives near the Taj, which is located on the waterfront.
"Those men were wearing jackets and they carried big big bags," one fisherman told CNN-IBN.
The gunmen then hijacked cars -- including a police van -- and broke up into at least three groups to carry out the attacks, police said.
One group headed toward the Cafe Leopold, a popular hangout for Western tourists, firing indiscriminately at passers-by on the street. They then opened fire and lobbed grenades at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station, a Victorian building.
As police rushed to the scene of the attacks, gunmen attacked the Cama Hospital. Two other groups attacked the Oberoi and Taj hotels. The Indian navy, stepping up patrols on the country's western coast after the attacks, boarded a cargo vessel Thursday afternoon, officials said. They and the Indian coast guard were also searching for a small boat. The operations were being conducted in the Arabian Sea.
Several Indian news outlets reported receiving e-mails from a group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen, claiming responsibility for the attacks. CNN was not able to verify the reports.
Reaction from the United Nations, United States and United Kingdom was swift as world leaders joined in condemning the attacks.
India has suffered a number of attacks in recent years, including a string of bombs that ripped through packed Mumbai commuter trains and platforms during rush hour in July 2006. About 209 people were killed in that attack.
Last July, a series of synchronized bomb blasts in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad left 49 dead and more than 100 wounded, police said.
President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua yesterday sympathises with the people of India over Wednesday night terrorist attacks which left over 125 reported dead and many others injured.
According to a statement signed by Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, Special Adviser to the president (Media and Publicity), president Yar'Adua expressed shock and sadness at the coordinated terrorist attacks.
The president also deplores the attack which was carried out on several locations in Mumbai , India .
The statement reads:
"President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua has expressed shock and sadness at the coordinated terrorist attacks on several locations in Mumbai , India .
'The President condemns the attacks in which over 125 have so far been reported dead, with many hundreds of others wounded.
"While deploring the tragic loss of lives through needless violence, President Yar'Adua calls for concerted global action against all forms of terrorism.
'He condoles with the Government and people of India."
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