In what appears to be a surreal sense of reality, television channels are airing footage from the various places in Southern Mumbai that are being attacked. Ultrabrown [1] writes –
A large-scale S. Bombay terrorist attack is going on right now using automatic weapons, hand grenades and possibly a taxi bomb. Commandos and military are supposedly being rushed in. Gunfire is still being heard on live TV.
And the logistics of living in a country which constantly finds itself under terrorist attacks. Meandering thoughts… [2] writes
A friend called from Mumbai to find out if I'm fine and mentioned that he's actually made groups in his phone's contact list – one for each metro city of the country. Makes it easier for him to react and find out about family and friends every time a blast happens.
I'm beginning to realise he has a point.
Worryingly, there already is a sense of conflicting information from various sources. While some mainstream media sources suggest that the situation is under control, others give the impression that there maybe a hostage situation developing in some of the hotels, especially with foreign nationals being held by the terrorists.
Tweets from Mumbai were one of the first to break the news. Manic Scribe [3] writes.
A bunch of terrorist are in the midst of a co-ordinated attack on Mumbai, India. The reports first started trickling in on Twitter, of all places, as I follow a few people who live in Mumbai. They have actually heard the explosions.
India Retold [4] writes
They are still there, firing and waiting to take the police on. The lobby of Oberoi Hotel has been set on fire. A petrol pump in Colaba has just been blown up, as this is being typed. Dadar station has been evacuated. An explosive laden taxi has been blown up in Ville Parle. Two terrorists have entered GT Hospital. They are exchanging fire with police near Metro cinema. Some terrorists have even commandeered a police jeep and are moving around in it firing indiscriminately. Incidents of blasts/ firing/lobbying of hand grenade have been reported from at least nine places. And the number is only increasing even at this hour past midnight. Live firing can still be heard on TV. It is 12:31 AM.
As the minutes go by, more reactions emerge from the blogosphere. An angry post at Doing Something For My Country!! [5]
Makes me wonder what will make our so called LEADERS to stand up and notice of whats happened and again happening… They of course do not realise the importance of lives of INDIANS, otherwise some concrete action might have taken place… Calling the INDIAN POLITICIALS WEKELINGS AND COWARDS would be the understatement of the century…
The attacks came quite late in the night on a weekday. Chances are that the city will take a few days before things return to normal. (Once was) Mumbaiwallah [6] writes
It's 00.17 on 27 November as I write. CNN on Twitter tells me that the city is under seige again. A grenade apparently went off at CST and shooting was reported in Colaba. NDTV.com live tv shows that the Oberoi lobby is on fire and an ‘encounter’ is on at the Taj and Trident Hotel.
Trains on the central line have been stopped until further notice. 20 people have been reported dead at this time.