Brown and Cameron react to Mumbai terror attacks

Huge flames are shooting from the upper floors of Mumbai's Trident-Oberoi Hotel as commandos battle Islamist militants holed up inside. More than 104 people are dead - including one Briton, an Australian, an Italian and a Japanese national - and at least 300 people were wounded in a string of gun and grenade attacks across India's largest city and financial capital. Around two dozen militants in their early 20s, armed with automatic rifles and grenades and carrying backpacks full of ammunition, came ashore in a rubber dinghy on Wednesday and fanned out across Mumbai's financial and tourist heart. They commandeered a vehicle and sprayed passers-by with bullets, firing indiscriminately in a train station, hospitals and a popular tourist cafe. They also attacked two of the city's plushest hotels packed with tourists and business executives. The attackers appeared to target Britons, Americans and Israelis as they hunted for hostages. At the Trident-Oberoi, elite Indian commandos are attempting to free 20 to 30 hostages and around 100 people trapped in their rooms. Earlier, explosions rattled the landmark Taj Mahal Palace Hotel nearby as troops tried to flush out the militants there. Helicopters buzzed overhead and crowds cheered as the commandos, their faces blackened, moved into the Trident, where 20 to 30 people are thought to have been taken hostage and more than 100 others are trapped in their rooms. Commandos are also outside a Jewish centre where a rabbi is thought to have been taken hostage, but later apparently decided to hold off from an assault. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has blamed militant groups based in India's neighbours - usually meaning Pakistan - raising fears of renewed tension between the nuclear-armed rivals. Australian actress Brooke Satchwell, who starred in the Neighbours television soap opera, said she narrowly escaped the gunmen by hiding in a hotel bathroom cupboard. Ms Satchwell said: "There were people getting shot in the corridor. There was someone dead outside the bathroom. The next thing I knew I was running down the stairs and there were a couple of dead bodies across the stairs. It was chaos." The head of Madrid's regional government, Esperanza Aguirre, said: "I didn't see any terrorists or injured people. I just saw the blood I had to walk through barefoot." Briton Alex Chamberlain said: "They told everybody to stop and put their hands up and asked if there were any British or Americans. I am sure that is what this is all about. They were talking about British and Americans specifically." An little-known organisation calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen sent an email to news organisations claiming responsibility. British Euro MP Sajjad Karim, part of a trade delegation visiting Mumbai for talks, described how the gunmen sprayed bullets indiscriminately into crowds of people at the Taj Mahal Palace. He said: "I was in the lobby of the hotel when gunmen came in and people started running. There were about 25 or 30 of us. "Some of us split one way and some another. A gunman just stood there spraying bullets around, right next to me. I managed to turn away and I ran into the hotel kitchen and then we were shunted into a restaurant in the basement." Prime Minister Gordon Brown described the attacks as "outrageous" and said they would be met with a "vigorous response". The Foreign Office is urging against all but essential travel to Mumbai and says anyone living in the city should "stay indoors until local authorities advise it is safe to go outside." The Government has flown out a rapid deployment team from London to help British officials on the ground. An emergency hotline has been set up for people worried about friends or relatives on 0207 008 0000.

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ITN | November 27, 2008