[_____V_____]

Thanks, bud.

But TG is a wonderful occasion to celebrate peace, love and goodwill, so please go ahead and do so. :)


Latest News (all times in IST)... (the time now is 9 08 PM)


09:10 PM: Five more foreigners have been evacuated from Hotel Trident.

The operation at Hotel Taj is reportedly over. All terrorists at Taj Hotel have been killed by the security personnel. The situation is under control.

At Nariman House, commandos have started entering the building as the offensive against the terrorists escalates.

08:30 PM: Reports from the Taj Hotel say that massive explosions are taking place inside the hotel.

A major fire has broken out at the Trident Hotel. The 13th and 14th floors of the hotel are on fire.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has left for Mumbai, in the wake of the terror attack.

The ongoing operations against terrorists in three places were in their final stages and would be over soon, says Maharashtra Director General of Police A N Roy.

Major General R K Hooda, General Officer Commanding, Maharashtra area, said that the Army and other security agencies had completed the first round of room-to-room combing at the Taj Mahal Hotel. But he said the operation was not yet over and there may still be terrorists holed up inside the hotel.

A huge convoy of army trucks has reached Nariman House. A BEST van can also be seen in the vicinity, and it might be there to cut off the power supply to the building. Two Israeli families have been reportedly held hostage in Nariman House.

08:00 PM: The Taj Hotel's General Manager's wife and three children have been reportedly killed in the attack.

The locals are distributing biscuits to the security personnel deployed at the Nariman House. An ambulance, from Saifee Hospital, is distributing water.

The chief of the Special Action Group has arrived.

07:49 PM: This road in the heart of Mumbai's tourist district looks worse than a scene from Kashmir. The range of forces here is incredible. The deployed personnel are from the NSG, RAF and Black Cats, apart from the city's police.

The city hadn't witnessed such a tight security blanket even during the infamous Mumbai riots.

06:07 PM: 70 more people have been evacuated from Trident.

05:45 PM: Lashkar-e-Tayiba has denied involvement in the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Death toll in Mumbai terror attacks 101; 288 injured, six of them critically, says Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.



Security forces recovered 40 bodies in the first four floors of the six-storeyed Taj Hotel. National Security Guard sources add that four fidayeen (suicide bombers) have been killed in the assault.

National Security Guard commandos and personnel of the Mumbai Police are carrying out systematical floor-to-floor cleaning up operations. Most of the hotel has been sanitised by now.

The terrorists had burst into lobby of the hotel last night from four places with all guns blazing. They first shot at three female receptionists manning the front desk. They then went into the hotel.

NSG sources said the fidayeen made an attempt to escape last night, but retreated when they saw the NSG approaching. The threw grenades at the commandos.

Director General of Police A N Roy said 15 police personnel, including officers, have been killed in the operations. Twenty five police personnel have been injured.

R K Krishna Kumar, vice chairman, Indian Hotels, which owns the under-attack Hotel Taj in South Mumbai, told a television channel said it is tough to say when the operation would get over.

Kumar said they have not been able to able to determine exact casualty figures but said it could be in the region of 50�60 people, adding that the army now has control of the hotel. "The first attack took place on the heritage wing of the hotel and then on the tower block," he said. Kumar added that the family of the hotel's senior management was caught in the fire, and some of the hotel's staff including five chefs had lost their lives.