When will all the hostages in Mumbai be released?

India's financial capital, Mumbai, was rocked by a series of gun attacks and blasts last night that targeted luxury hotels and restaurants – and especially British and American visitors. At least 80 people were reported to have been killed and up to 250 injured.

Late last night, armed police were said to be storming rooms held by gunmen on the upper floors of the Taj Mahal and Oberoi, two of the best-known hotels in India. Officials said the terrorists had struck at least seven locations, including hotels, hospitals, a railway station and the Cafe Leopold, the city's most famous restaurant and meeting place for Western tourists.

At one location, the gunmen had apparently been searching for British and American travellers to take hostage. Reports suggested that several hostages were still being held.

"An encounter is going on at the two hotels, the situation is grave," said Vilasrao Deshmukh, the Maharashtra state chief minister. "Our men are on the job." The Home Minister, Shivraj Patil, said there were four or five armed attackers under siege in each of the two hotels.

"They have attacked hotels, they have attacked the hospitals, they have attacked the railway station," he said. In one shootout, three senior policemen, including Hemant Karkare, the head of Mumbai's anti-terrorist squad, were reported to have been killed.

Television images showed the lobbies of the Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels in south Mumbai on fire, apparently after grenade blasts. People were being evacuated from the Oberoi with their hands on their heads. At the Taj Mahal some of the injured were evacuated on golden luggage carts.

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India has suffered a series of terror attacks in recent months but last night's massacre – with a combination of grenades and automatic weapons – marks a new and deadly milestone in its continuing battle against extremists. Most of the attacks have been blamed on extremist Muslim groups but, in recent weeks, police have rounded up 10 members of what they say is its first Hindu terror cell.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/massacre-in-mumbai-1036875.html